ROCEEDINGS 

OF  THE 


Historical  Society 


PART  I 


Post-Caroline  English  Revision  Attempts 

AND 

The  London  Reprint  of  the  Proposed  Book 
of   1785/6 


By 

WILUAM   MUSS-ARNOLT,    B.D,,  Ph  D. 

Member  of  the  .S 
The  Am- 


The  Early  History  of  the  Church  in  Western 
Pennsylvania 


BY  THE 
RT.  REV.  CORTLANDT  WHITEHEAD,  D.D.,  LL.  D. 


PHILADELPHIA 

1915 


PROCEEDINGS 

of  the 

CHURCH    HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 

May  17,  1910. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Church  Historical  Society  was 
held  in  the  Assembly  Room  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Philadelphia,  Tuesday  evening,  May  17,  1910.  The 
meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Mr.  John  Thomson,  Chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Organization. 

Mr.  Thomson  introduced  the  Rev.  Joseph  Cullen  Ayer, 
Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  in  the  Philadelphia 
Divinity  School,  who  delivered  an  address  upon  "Innocent  HI." 

Immediately  following  the  address  the  Society  was  per- 
manently organized  by  the  adoption  of  the  following  Constitu- 
tion and  By-laws : 


CONSTITUTION 


CONSTITUTION. 
ARTICLE  I. 

The  name  of  this  organization  shall  be  "The  Church  His- 
torical Society." 

ARTICLE  II. 

The  object  of  the  Society  shall  be  the  preservation  and 
publication  of  historical  documents  connected  with  the  Protes- 
tant Episcopal  Church,  the  investigation  of  its  history,  and 
the  development  of  interest  in  all  relevant  historical  research. 

ARTICLE  III. 

The  membership  shall  consist  of  honorary,  life  and  active 
members.  Honorary  members  shall  be  those  elected  by  the 
unanimous  vote  of  the  Society  at  any  stated  meeting.  Any 
communicant  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  may  be 
elected  by  the  Executive  Board  to  membership.  Upon  the  pay- 
ment of  ten  dollars  to  the  Treasurer  a  person  may  be  elected 
a  life  member. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

The  officers  of  this  Society  shall  consist  of  a  President, 
Vice-President,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  and  six  Managers, 
who  shall  constitute  the  Executive  Board.  The  officers  and  two 
Managers  shall  be  nominated  at  the  stated  meeting  in  October 
and  shall  be  elected  at  the  stated  meeting  in  January.  All  vacan- 
cies shall  be  filled  by  the  Executive  Board  until  the  next  Janu- 
ary meeting  of  the  Society,  when  an  election  for  the  unexpired 
term  shall  take  place. 

ARTICLE  V. 

The  duties  of  the  several  officers  shall  be  such  as  are 
usually  incidental  to  their  offices.  The  officers  shall  be  chosen 
for  one  year  and  the  Managers  for  three  years,  two  Managers 
to  be  elected  yearly  as  above  set  forth,  provided  that  at  the 
first  election  six  Managers  shall  be  chosen  whose  terms, 
whether  for  three  years,  two  years  or  one  year,  shall  be  deter- 
mined by  lot. 


BY-LAWS. 

ARTICLE  L 

This  Society  shall  meet  in  the  months  of  October,  January 
and  April,  at  such  time  and  place  as  the  Executive  Board  shall 
direct.  The  Executive  Board  (hereinafter  called  the  Board) 
shall  meet  monthly.  It  shall  have  power  to  adopt  rules  for  its 
own  government.  Five  of  its  members  shall  constitute  a 
quorum.  This  number  shall  not  be  decreased  without  the 
direction  of  the  Society. 

ARTICLE  II. 
The  Treasurer,  when  required,  shall  give  bond  in  such 
sum  as  the  Board  may  demand. 

ARTICLE  III. 
There  shall  be  a  Librarian,  who  shall  be  elected  by  and  per- 
form such  services  as  the  Board  shall  direct,  be  paid  such  com- 
pensation as  it  may  consider  just,  and  be  subject  to  discharge 
by  it. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

The  annual  dues  of  active  members  shall  be  one  dollar. 
Members  whose  dues  remain  unpaid  for  more  than  two  years 
may  be  dropped  by  vote  of  the  Board. 

ARTICLE  V. 
This   Constitution   and   the   By-laws   may  be   altered   or 
amended  at  any  meeting,  on  written  notice  specifying  the  alter- 
ation or  amendment  intended  being  given  at  the  meeting  next 
preceding. 

ARTICLE  VI. 
In  the  event  of  the  dissolution  of  this  Society,  all  its  prop- 
erty shall  immediately  become  the  property  of  the  Historical 
Society  of  Pennsylvania. 

ARTICLE  VII. 
A  separate  fund  shall  be  created,  which  shall  be  called  the 
Endowment  Fund,  and  all  contributions  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
curing a  building,  with  fire-proof  facilities,  for  the  Society,  to- 
gether with  such  other  contributions  as  may  be  set  apart  or 
received  for  that  purpose,  shall  be  invested,  at  convenient  times, 
in  good  securities. 

(3) 


4  BY-LAWS 

ARTICLE  VIII. 
Such    Endowment    Fund    shall    be    managed    by    three 
Trustees,  who  shall  be  elected  annually  in  the  same  manner 
and  at  the  same  time  as  the  officers  of  the  Society. 

ARTICLE  IX. 
One  of  the  objects  of  the  Society  shall  be  to  collect  for 
the  Library  and  the  Cabinet  the  particulars  hereinafter  men- 
tioned, namely : 

For  the  Library. 
0.  Narratives   relating  to  dignitaries  and   benefactors  of  the 

Protestant  Episcopal  Church  and  Missions. 
h.  Biographical  notices  of  eminent  and  remarkable  persons. 

c.  Sketches  and  catalogues  of  schools,  academies  and  colleges. 

d.  Copies  of  records  of  proceedings  of  religious,  literary,  scien- 

tific or  social  bodies. 

e.  Journals  and  newspapers. 

/.   Manuscripts  on  any  subject  or  of  any  date. 

g.  Magazines  and  pamphlets. 

/;.  Church  almanacs,  directories,  diaries,  etc. 

For  the  Cabinet. 

a.  Prints,  especially  of  persons,  church  buildings,  etc. 

b.  Pictures. 

c.  Medals. 

d.  Utensils. 

e.  Any   article   of   value    from   its   historical   or   biographical 

affinities. 

The  following  officers  were  elected : 
President,  Henry  Budd,  Esq. 
Vice-President,  Major  Moses  Veale. 
Secretary,  Wm.  Ives  Rutter,  Jr. 
Treasurer,  Sydney  L.  Wright. 
M^ embers  of  Executive  Board  : 
Term  to  expire  1911. 

Rev.  Arnold  Harris  Hord, 
John  E.  Baird. 
Term  to  expire  1912. 

Rev.  Henry  Riley  Gummey,  D.D., 
John  Thomson. 
Term  to  expire  1913. 
Allen  Childs, 
Albert  S.  Haeseler. 


POST-CAROLINE  REVISION  ATTEMPTS 

and 

THE     LONDON     REPRINT     OF     THE     PROPOSED 
BOOK  OF  1785/6. 

By 

WILLIAM  MUSS-ARNOLT,  B.D.,  Ph.D., 

Member  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Exegesis  and  Literature ; 
the  American  Oriental  Society,  Etc.,  Etc. 


Delivered  Before  the  Church  Historical  Society, 
April  29,  1915. 


Note. — The  subject  of  this  paper  has  so  important  a  hearing  upon 
the  early  history  of  the  Church  in  America  and  on  the  Prayer  Book, 
that  its  insertion  out  of  tlie  order  of  chronological  succession  has  been 
deemed  proper. — IV .  I.  R.,  Jr.,  Secy. 


"Noluiiius  leges  Anglicr  tiiutari." 
That  the  Liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England  should  have 
remained  more  than  200  years,  since  the  passing  of  the  Act 
of  Uniformity  of  1662,  without  any  thorough  revision,  although 
it  was  revised  no  less  than  six  times  in  the  125  years  between 
the  Reformation  and  the  passing  of  that  Act,  is  all  the  more 
surprising,  when  it  is  considered  how  many  learned  and  pious 
men,  both  of  the  clergy  and  the  laity,  both  in  and  out  of  the 
Church  of  England,  at  home  and  abroad,  have  at  various  times, 
and  by  various  means,  with  a  seriousness  and  sincerity  becom- 
ing Christians,  and  with  a  temper  and  moderation  the  most 
unexceptionable,  suggested  the  necessary  improvements  requi- 
site to  make  it  fully  answer  the  end  designed,  and  to  do  all 
the  good  of  which  it  is  so  capable,  if  the  proposed  alterations 
were  but  adopted.  These  repeated  attempts  to  amend  and  im- 
prove the  Rook  of  Common  Prayer  are  a  proof,  at  once,  of  the 
excellence  of  its  composition  as  a  whole,  and  of  the  defects 
of  its  subordinate  and  inferior  parts. 

(5) 


POST-CAROLINE  REVISION   ATTEMPTS 


Attempts  toward  union  with  the  dissenting  brethren  were 
constant  and  most  earnest  from  the  time  of  the  Restoration. 

In  October,  1667,  and  February,  1668,  were  set  on  foot 
the  two  abortive  schemes  of  comprehension,  first  perfected  by 
the  Lord  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal,  Sir  Orlando  Bridgman. 
The  "Comprehensive  Bill,"  as  it  was  styled,  was  based  on  the 
declaration  from  Breda  of  Charles  II.,  with  a  view  of  "relax- 
ing the  terms  of  conformity  to  the  established  church."  It 
was  drawn  up  by  Sir  Robert  Atkins  and  the  Lord  Chief 
Justice,  Sir  Matthew  Hale.  It  was  revised  and  endorsed  by 
Thomas  Barlow  and  his  friend  John  Wilkins,  Bishop  of 
Chester.  The  introduction  of  the  bill  was  frustrated  by  a 
declaration  of  the  House  of  Commons  against  it;  and  the  plan 
was  dropped.  The  project  was  revived  for  the  time  in  1674 
by  John  Tillotson  and  Edward  Stillingfleet,  and  arranged  by 
them  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  leading  nonconformists.  But  it 
was  again  defeated.  For,  it  would,  of  necessity  have  brought 
in  its  wake  a  revision  of  the  Articles  and  of  the  Prayer  Book. 

The  one  serious  and  official  attempt  at  a  reconstruction 
of  the  Liturgy  in  post-Caroline  times  was  that  which  grew 
out  of  the  revolution  of  1688-89.  In  every  previous  crisis 
of  political  change,  the  Prayer  Book  had  felt  the  tremor  along 
with  the  statute-book.  Church  and  state,  like  heart  and  brain, 
are  sympathetically  responsive  one  to  the  other.  Revisions  of 
rubrics  go  along  with  revisions  of  codes.  It  was  only  what 
might  have  been  anticipated,  therefore,  that  when  William  and 
Mary  came  to  the  throne.  Parliament  should  request  the  king 
to  summon  Convocation  "to  be  advised  with  in  ecclesiastical 
matters."  A  royal  commission,  of  ten  bishops  and  twenty 
clerics  was  appointed  September  17,  1689,  to  prepare  altera- 
tions in  the  Liturgy  and  the  canons,  and  to  "water  down"  the 
Liturgy  so  as  to  make  it  acceptable  to  the  dissenting  brethren, 
who  had  warmly  supported  the  revolution  and  whose  services 
the  king  desired  to  requite,  so  as  to  secure  their  good  will  in 
the  future.  The  commission  numbered  some  great  men,  such 
as  Edward  Stillingfleet,  John  Tillotson  and  William  Beveridge. 
Their  report  fell  flat,  and  was  never  offered  for  adoption  to 
Convocation,  whose  opposition  was  obvious  from  the  very  be- 
ginning. The  Lower  House  of  Convocation  showed  itself 
unfriendly  to  anything  like  concessive  measures.  Its  opposition, 
however,  was  grounded  not  so  much  on  love  and  veneration 
for  the  Liturgy  as  it  stood  then,  as  on  political  reasons.    The 


POST-CAROLINE   REVISION    ATTEMPTS  J 

main  body  of  the  clergy  were  Tories.  They  were  opposed  to  the 
attempts  now  made  by  the  court  and  the  bishops  for  the  com- 
prehension of  dissenters  as  brethren  in  the  Protestant  religion. 
The  more  dignified  part  of  the  clergy,  "the  wearers  of  the  gown 
and  scarlet  hood,"  as  Dean  Swift  characterizes  them,  were  by 
the  careful  exercise  of  preferments  made  agreeable  to  the  king's 
wishes.  Lacking  nine  of  their  ablest  prelates,  however,  they 
were  powerless  to  control  the  clergy,  who  were  disposed  to 
s}nipatiiize  with  Sancroft  and  his  non-juring  clergy.  The  pre- 
lates were  Whigs  and  sympathized  with  the  king's  enlightened 
toleration  policy  as  well  as  with  his  continental  projects.  They 
were  Latitudinarians  and  were  too  advanced  for  the  sturdy 
and  narrow  bigotry  of  the  body  of  the  clergy.  Men  like  Burnet, 
Tillotson  and  Tenison,  leaders  of  the  Whig  hierarchy  of 
\\'illiam,  were  in  constant  opposition  to,  and  entirely  out  of 
sympathy  with,  the  Lower  House  of  Convocation  and  the  in- 
terests which  that  house  represented.^  The  almost  sneering 
Xolumus  leges  Anglicc  mutari  (we  do  not  want  the  laws  of 
England  to  be  changed)  of  WiUiam  Jane  (1645-1707),  the  pro- 
locutor of  the  Lower  House,  with  which  he  ended  his  speech 
when  he  was  presented  to  the  president  of  the  Upper  House, 
put  an  end  to  the  comprehension  scheme.' 

So  complete  was  soon  the  obscurity  into  which  the  doings 
of  the  commission  fell,  that  church  historians  as  late  as  1849 
speak  as  if  they  knew  nothing  of  the  whereabouts  of  the 
records.  Tn  1854  the  nianuscri])t  of  the  minutes  was  discovered 
in  the  library  of  Lambeth  Palace,  and  was  printed  as  a  Blue 
Book  by  order  of  the  House  of  Commons.  It  can  readily  be 
seen  that  the  guiding  principles  of  the  compilers  of  the  Pro- 
posed Book  of  1785/6  were,  on  the  whole,  those  which  char- 
acterized the  work  of  the  Commission  of  168!).  The  Ameri- 
can clergy  undoubtedly  drew  their  information  from  Birch's 
Life  of  Tillotson  ^  and  from  Calamy's  Abridgment  of  Baxter's 
Life. 

The  title  page  of  the  Blue  Book  reads:  "Book  of  Common 
Prayer  .      copy  of  the  Alterations  in  the  Book  of  Com- 

mon  Prayer,   prepared  by  the  Royal   Commissioners   for  the 


'  F.  \V.  Wilson,  The  Iniportatice  of  the  Rcigti  nf  Queen  .luiic  i;i 
Tnglish  Church  History.    Oxford.  1911.  pp.  18  19. 

'  -See  also,  Rlackburne,  Works.  &c..  Vol.  5.  pp.  88  foil.  (Cambridge. 
18(H.) 

■''  Tlmmas  Birch.  The  Life  nf  the  Most  Reverend  John  Tillotson. 
Compiled  cliicflv  from  his  original  papers  and  letters.  London,  1752. 
VII.    (1).  489.   (1)   pp.  Sm.  8vo. 


8  POST-CAROLINE  REVISION   ATTEMPTS 

Revision  of  the  Liturgy,  in  1689.  (Extracted  from  the  original 
volume  in  the  custody  of  the' Archbishop  of  Canterbury  at 
Lambeth  Palace,  and  accompanied  by  explanatory  documents. ) 
Ordered,  by  the  House  of  Commons  to  be  printed,  3  June, 
1854."  110  pages.  8vo. 

The  text  of  the  report  of  the  commission  is  printed  on 
pages  3-88  in  two  columns  to  the  page,  the  one  containing  the 
Printed  Text,  1683-86.  the  other,  Alterations  and  Amend- 
ments, 1689.  Pages  91-110  contain  copies  of  illustrative  docu- 
ments, from  the  archiepiscopal  records  and  the  library  at  Lam- 
beth Palace,  consisting  of  (1)  the  Royal  Commission  to  the 
Archbishop  of  York'*  and  others,  dated  17  September. 
William  and  Mary,  1689;  (3)  Diary  of  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Commissioners,  from  3  October  to  18  November,  1689, 
written  by  Dr.  John  WilHams,  a  commissioner  and  later  Bishop 
of  Chichester;  (3)  and  (4)  Directions,  from  the  Dean  of  the 
Arches,  respecting  the  custody  of  the  interleaved  copy  of  the 
Liturgy,  containing  the  Alterations  and  Amendments  prepared 
by  the  commission. 

The  alterations  and  amendments,  amounting  to  596,  were 
prepared  in  an  interleaved  copy  of  a  black-letter  edition  of  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer.  The  document  was  not  made  public 
at  that  time  and  was  supposed  for  many  years  to  be  lost.  A 
copy  was  given  to  Dr.  Calamy,  the  eminent  dissenting  divine, 
who  thought  that  the  scheme  could  have  brought  in  two-thirds 
of  the  dissenters.  His  copy  was  lost  by  lending.  An  abstract 
was  published  by  him  in  his  Life  of  Baxter,  page  453.  The 
interleaved  Prayer  Book,  however,  was  left  with  Dr.  Thomas 
Tenison,  later  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  It  passed,  after  his 
death  in  1715,  into  the  hands  of  Dr.  Edmund  Gibson,  Bishop 
of  London,  by  whom  it  was  deposited  in  the  Lambeth  library. 
The  editing  of  the  1854  edition  was  made  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  William  Henry  Black  (1808-1873),  assistant  keeper 
of  the  public  records. 

The  proceedings  of  this  attempted  revision  were,  likewise, 
published  in  1855,  and  entitled:  "The  Revised  Liturgy  of 
1689 :  Being  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  interleaved  with  the 
alterations  prepared  for  Convocation  by  the  Royal  Commis- 
sioners, in  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary. 
Edited  from  the  copy  printed  by  order  of  the  House  of  Com- 


*  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  William  Sancroft,  it  will  be  re- 
membered was  removed  from  his  archbishopric  on  his  becoming  a  non- 
juror.   His  successor,  Tillotson,  was  not  consecrated  until  1691. 


POST-CAROLINE   REVISION   ATTEMPTS  9 

mon5>,  by  Jolin  Taylor."     London :   Samuel   Bagster  &  Sons, 
18.55.  \'J II  pages,  XVIII  and  78  leaves.  Large  8vo. 

The  introduction  of  Taylor's  publication  contains  a  brief 
but  succinct  history  of  the  plans  and  the  work  of  the  commis- 
sion. The  revision  of  the  commissioners  ended  with  "The 
Commination  Service,"  though  several  notes  made  in  commit- 
tee were  attached  to  the  remaining  services.  A  note  at  the  be- 
ginning of  "The  Psalms  of  David"  says:  "This  translation  was 
to  be  revised.  Dr.  [Richard]  Kidder  had  done  it;  but  it  was 
not  examined  for  want  of  time."  This  revision  of  the  Psalms 
is  probably  somewhere  still  in  existence.  Another  note  ap- 
pended to  the  "Form  and  manner  of  making,  ordaining  and 
consecrating  of  Bishops.  Priests  and  Deacons"  says :  "The 
Commissioners  proceeded  no  further  for  want  of  time;  the 
Convocation  being  met."  This  refers  to  the  Convocation  which 
began  its  sittings  November  6,  1689. 

n. 

During  the  eighteenth  century  numerous  attempts  were 
made  and  pamphlets  published  by  individuals  and  small  groups 
both  of  clergy  and  laity  to  bring  about  a  revision  both  of  the 
Liturgy  and  of  the  Articles.   The  most  noteworthy  are  these : 

(1)  The  Rev.  David  Hughes,  Fellow  of  Queens'  College 
in  Cambridge  fA.B..  1725;  A.M.,  1729;  S.T.B.,  1738],  had 
printed  in  the  Gentleman's  Magasine,  for  January,  1737,  "Some 
observations  on  the  Church  Liturgy,  or  the  Scruples  of  a  Coun- 
try Curate."  He  maintained  that  "If  it  was  thought  necessary, 
in  the  year  1689  (almost  //a//  a  century  ago),  to  undertake  a 
general  Ret'iew  of  the  Common  Prayer  Book,  I  am  sure  that 
the  same  necessity  still  subsists ;  and,  I  believe,  will  be  thought 
by  most  people  to  be  now  somewhat  stronger."  Hughes,  a 
country  curate  at  Kent,  in  England,  was  a  man  of  great  mod- 
esty, liberality  and  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  and  his  memory 
was  much  revered  at  Cambridge  for  many  years.  Hughes' 
periodical  article  was  soon  redeemed  from  oblivion  by  appear- 
ing as  an  appendix  in  a  book,  which  proved  to  be  the  fore- 
runner of  a  number  of  similar  productions.  Early  in  1749  was 
printed  for  Ralph  Griffiths  a  pamphlet  entitled : 

(2)  "The  expediency  and  necessity  of  revising  and  im- 
proving the  publick  liturgy,  humbly  represented.  Being  the  sub- 
stance of  an  essay  for  a  review  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
so  far  as  relates  to  that  point.  Annexed  a  letter  in  favour  of  a 
review,  by  a  clergyman  [i.  e.,  David  Hughes]."   London.   VII, 


lO  POST-CAROLINE  REVISION   ATTEMPTS 

136  pages.  Small  8vo.  The  book,  published  anonymously,  was 
written  by  John  Jones  (1700-1770),  for  many  years  vicar  at 
Alconbury,  hence  generally  known  as  Jones  of  Alconbury.  The 
same  year  appeared  also  : 

(3)  "Free  and  candid  disquisitions  relating  to  the  Church 
of  England,  and  the  means  of  advancing  religion  therein.  Ad- 
dressed to  the  governing  powers  in  Church  and  State,  and  more 
immediately  directed  to  the  two  Houses  of  Convocation."  Lon- 
don, printed  for  A.  Millar.  MDCCXLIX.  XXVII,  340  pages. 
12mo.  Its  contents  are  an  introduction,  followed  by  thirteen 
chapters ;  a  postscript  and  an  appendix.  The  thirteen  chapters 
treat  of  (1)  Translation  of  the  Bible;  (2)  Frame  and  design 
of  the  public  service;  (3)  An  occasional  dissertation,  contain- 
ing a  short  inquiry,  whether  our  first  service,  as  distinct  from, 
and  independent  on  the  other  two  may  not  be  ordinarily  suffi- 
cient for  our  stated  matins,  or  morning  worship  on  Sunday ; 
(4)  A  general  survey  of  the  principal  matter  and  general  order 
of  our  Liturgy,  with  remarks;  (5)  Queries  and  observations 
relating  to  the  Psalms,  Lessons,  Epistles  and  Gospels;  (6) 
Athanasian  Creed,  catechism,  collects,  prayer  for  Parliament ; 
(7)  The  several  offices;  (8)  Suppletory  offices,  occasional 
prayers,  calendar,  rubrics;  (9)  Some  objections  considered. 
Correct  printing  of  the  Bible  and  Liturgy;  (10)  Articles,  sub- 
scriptions, homilies,  catechising,  canons,  oaths  of  church- 
wardens; (11)  Certain  grievances,  generally  complained  of  in 
the  Church;  (12)  The  application,  relating  to  a  review  in  gen- 
eral, as  before  proposed ;  humbly  pressing  it  upon  further 
motives,  and  fairly  reconsidering  the  supposed  difficulties;  (13) 
The  conclusion ;  wherein  some  farther  considerations  are  urged 
in  support  of  this  address ;  and  particularly  with  regard  to  its 
being  made  at  this  time. 

The  postscript  contained  "some  occasional  observations, 
occurring  upon  a  review  of  the  whole."  The  appendix  sets 
forth  the  concurring  judgment  and  declarations  of  several 
learned  men  of  the  Church  of  England,  relating  to  some  of  the 
principal  points  contained  in  the  foregoing  disquisitions. 

That  Jones  was  only  a  part  contributor  and  the  editor 
of  the  book  can  clearly  be  seen  even  by  a  superficial  reader. 
Who  the  authors  really  were  has  never  been  proved.'  The 
most  important  among  the  proposals  of  Jones  and  his  col- 
laborators  were:     (1)    A   new,   critical   translation    of   the 


'See    also,    Colligan,    The    Avian   Movement    in   England,    p.    108, 
note  1. 


POST-CAROLINE   REVISION   ATTEMPTS  II 

Bible;  (2)  the  shortening  of  the  morning  services,  i.  e., 
the  Morning  Prayer,  the  Litany,  and  the  pre-Communion, 
which  used  to  be  read  together;  (3)  a  new  lectionary;  (4) 
discontinuance  of  the  custom  of  private  baptism,  and  (5) 
discontinuance  of  enforcing  subscription  on  youths  at 
schools.  At  the  present  time  most  of  these  proposals  have 
been  carried  out.  Many  good  churchmen  would  now  agree 
with  these  authors  that  the  reformation  work  had  not  been 
absolutely  perfect ;  that  even  the  Liturgy  might  be  improved 
and  that  the  Articles,  written  in  time  of  hot  controversy  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  long  before  the  Church  of  England 
had  reached  a  settled  condition,  were  subjects  open  to 
amendment.  Objection  was  also  made  against  (1)  the  read- 
ing of  the  Athanasian  Creed  in  divine  service;  (8)  the 
burial  office;  (3)  the  frequent  repetition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer 
during  the  same  service;  (4)  the  promiscuous  reading  of 
the  Psalms,  and  (5)  the  Sunday  lessons  as  ill-chosen  and 
improperly  divided.^ 

These  modifications  of  the  church  services  and  of  the 
ritual  were  proposed  with  a  view  of  meeting  difficulties  of 
the  Latitudinarian  party  within  the  Church  of  England, 
rather  than  to  the  comprehension  of  the  dissenting  brethren. 

No  sooner  was  the  book  published,  than  it  was  attacked 
by  several  churchmen,  who  feared  that  any  step  towards 
a  further  reformation  would  lead  to  the  utter  subversion  of 
the  Church  of  England.  Among  these  attacks  we  may  men- 
tion:  "Remarks  upon  a  treatise  entitled  Free  and  Candid 
disquisitions  relating  to  the  Church  of  England,  &c.  In 
some  letters  to  a  worthy  dignitary  of  the  Church  of  Wells." 
Part  the  first.  By  a  presbyter  of  the  Church  of  England. 
London,  1750.  79  pages.  8vo.  The  author  was  John  Boswell 
(1698-1756),  vicar  and  schoolmaster  of  Taunton,  England, 
and  prebendary  of  Wells  Cathedral.  The  greater  part  of 
his  treatise  is  taken  up  with  a  vindication  of  the  length  of  the 
public  service,  and  the  frequent  repetition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer 
in  the  liturgy,  maintaining — as  did  another  writer  in  1790 — 
that  in  his  church  the  Lord's  Prayer  was  repeated  each  time 
within  the  record  period  of  "twenty  seconds."  ^    If  that  repre- 


'  Further  remarks  on  John  Jones  and  the  Free  and  Candid  Dis- 
quisitiniis.  see  the  Monthly  Reviciv,  Series  1,  Vol.  1,  pp.  198-211  (Lon- 
don, 1749)  ;  John  Nichols,  Literarv  Anecdotes  of  the  Eighteenth  Century, 
Vol.  1,  pp.  585-640;  3,  pp.  15-17;  8.  pp.  289-292  (London,  1812.  1814)." 

'See  further,  the  Monthly  Review,  Series  1,  Vol.  2,  pp.  406-407; 
Nichols,  Literary  Anecdotes,  Vol.  2,  p.  507. 


12  POST-CAROLINE  REVISION    ATTEMPTS 

senled  the  custom  in  most  churches,  can  we  wonder  at  a  con- 
temporary statement,  that  "to  the  majority  of  church-goers,  we 
fear  that  our  excellent  form  of  prayer  is  become  little  better 
than  a  mere  prayer  of  form" ? 

In  answer  to  Boswell's  Remarks,  Francis  Blackburne  then 
just  made  Archdeacon  of  Cleveland,  entered  the  lists,  without 
tiie  participation  or  even  knowledge  of  Mr.  Jones  or  any  of 
his  more  confidential  associates,  in  an  "Apology  for  the  authors 
of  The  Free  and  Candid  Disquisitions,"  *  printed  for  Millar, 
1750.  Blackburne  had  read  the  "Disquisitions"  in  manuscript, 
but  there  was  not  a  line  nor  a  word  in  it  written  or  suggested 
by  him  notwithstanding  many  confident  reports  to  the  contrary. 

Boswell  and  his  supporters  were  also  answered  in  two 
volumes,  published  in  1750  and  1751,  respectively,  and  entitled 
"An  appeal  to  common  reason  and  candor,  in  behalf  of  a  re- 
view; submitted  to  the  serious  consideration  of  all  unpreju- 
diced members  of  the  Church  of  England.  With  a  word  con- 
cerning some  late  Remarks  upon  the  Free  and  Candid  Disqui- 
sitions." 154  and  279  pages.  Svo.*^  The  Appeal  provoked 
another  broadside  from  Boswell,  entitled  "Remarks  upon  a 
treatise,  intituled  Free  and  candid  disquisitions,  relating  to  the 
Church  of  England,  &c.  In  some  letters  to  a  worthy  dignitary 
of  the  Church  of  Wells,  wherein  an  attempt  towards  a  dis- 
covery of  the  true  and  real  design  of  the  Disquisitions,  is 
humbly  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  the  serious  and  think- 
ing members  of  the  establishment."  Part  the  second.  By  a  pres- 
byter of  the  Church  of  England.   London,  1751. 

The  author  maintained  that,  if  the  proposals  of  the  dis- 
quisitors  made  and  repeated  again  in  their  Appeal  were  put  into 
practice,  it  would  be  a  means  of  putting  an  end  to  "that  little 
sense  of  religion,  which  is  left  amongst  us."  Their  design,  he 
proceeds  to  point  out,  "bids  fair,  unless  timely  prevented,  to 
overturn  our  constitution  in  church  and  state."  The  author  of 
the  disquisitions  he  honors  constantly  with  such  genteel  appella- 
tions as,  "insolent  schismatic,"  "sceptical  trifler,"  "paultry 
sneerer,"  "impertinent  caviller,"  &c.,  and  in  one  place  he  calls 
him  "a  pert,  impudent,  prevaricating,  sceptical  knave."  ^° 


'Published  in  his  theological  and  miscellaneous  works  (Cambridge, 
1804),  Vol.  2,  pp.  135-178. 

•  See  the  Monthly  Review.  Series  1,  Vol.  3,  pp.  1-9 ;  Vol.  5,  pp.  81-86. 

"  See  further,  the  Monthly  Review,  Series  1,  Vol.  6,  pp.  62-69 
(London,  1752). 


POST-CAROLINE  REVISION   ATTEMPTS  13 

III. 

In  the  year  17G(i  Blackburne  published  anonymously  his 
best-known  book,  "The  Confessional :  or,  a  Full  and  Free  in- 
quiry into  the  right,  utility,  edification  and  success  of  establish- 
ing systematical  confessions  of  faith  and  doctrine  in  Protestant 
Churches."    London :  Millar.    8vo. 

The  work  is  an  examination  into  the  rise  and  progress  of 
the  requirement  in  Protestant  Churches,  as  prescribed  in  the 
;.{6th  Canon  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  into  the  arguments 
brought  in  defence,  or  rather  in  excuse  of  it.  Blackburne  was 
greatly  encouraged  in  the  progress  of  his  work  by  the  bishop  of 
Carlisle,  Dr.  Edward  Law,  and  others.  The  book  practically 
advocated  the  abolition  of  subscription  not  only  to  the  Articles 
and  the  Liturgy,  but  to  the  Creeds  themselves.  It  elicited  many 
answers,  the  most  effective,  perhaps,  being  that  of  William 
Jones,  of  Nayland  (1726-1800),  in  his  "Remarks  on  the  prin- 
ciple and  spirit  of  a  work,  entitled  'The  Confessional,'  being  a 
sequel  to  the  second  edition  of  'A  Full  Answer  to  an  Essay  on 
Spirit'  [by  Bishop  Robert  Clayton]."  London,  1770.  8vo.  Jones 
took  a  true  church  line,  by  showing  that  what  was  really  aimed 
at  was  latitude  on  the  vital  doctrine  of  Trinity. 

Fifteen  years  before  the  publication  of  The  Confessional, 
another  anonymous  writer  had  endeavored  to  promote  the  de- 
sign of  revising  the  Liturgy,  Articles  and  Canons  of  the  Church 
of  England  by  a  pamphlet,  entitled  "Reasons  humbly  offered 
for  composing  a  new  set  of  Articles  of  Religion :  With  twenty- 
one  Articles  of  Religion,  proposed  as  a  specimen  for  improve- 
ment." London:  Griffiths.  105  pages.  8vo.  He  quoted  largely 
from  Stillingfleet,  Burnet,  Nicholls,  Bennet  and  other  learned 
men,  to  shew  that  the  present  thirty-nine  articles  of  religion 
admit  of  different  interpretations;  that  a  subscription  to  them 
does  not  in  any  manner  contribute  to  prevent  diversities  of 
opinion  in  religious  matters,  or  promote  uniformity  of  senti- 
ment ;  and  that,  consequently,  the  retaining  of  them,  as  they 
are  now  expressed  in  such  doubtful  and  uncertain  terms,  can- 
not in  any  respect  tend  to  the  security  of  religion  in  general, 
or  to  the  preservation  of  the  Church  of  England  in  particular ; 
since  they  are  at  present  no  bar  to  exclude  any  but  such  as 
are  truly  conscientious  and  deserving,  who  ought  on  no  account 
to  be  kept  out  of  the  communion  of  the  Church  of  England." 

It  was  not  until  the  year  1865  that  even  the  clerical  sub- 
scription was  changed  to  its  present  form. 

"Monthly  Revieu.'.  Series  1,  Vol.  4,  pp.  167-172. 


14  POST-CAROLINE  REVISION   ATTEMPTS 

One  of  the  ablest  books  in  opposition  to  Blackburne's  Con- 
fessional was  Archdeacon  Thomas  Rutherford's  "A  Vindica- 
tion of  the  right  of  Protestant  Churches  to  require  the  clergy 
to  subscribe  to  an  established  confession  of  faith  and  doctrines, 
in  a  charge  delivered  at  a  Visitation  in  July,  1766."  Cambridge, 
1766.  8vo. 

In  1767,  a  second  edition  of  The  Confessional  appeared, 
enlarged  by  a  preface,  wherein  Dr.  Rutherford's  principles 
were  examined  and  some  notes  added,  on  particular  passages, 
in  the  same  charge,  and  in  a  vindication  of  it  in  answer  to 
Dr.  Benjamin  Dawson's  examination  of  Archdeacon  Ruther- 
ford's charge. 

A  third  edition  of  The  Confessional  was  published  in  1770. 
This  was  reprinted  in  1804  as  volume  5  of  "The  Works,  theo- 
logical and  miscellaneous,  of  Francis  Blackburne."  Cam- 
bridge.    (4),  559  pages.    8vo.^^ 

A  summary  of  the  controversy  started  by  The  Confes- 
sional will  be  found  in  "A  short  view  of  the  controversies 
occasioned  by  the  Confessional  [of  Francis  Blackburne]  and  the 
Petition  to  Parliament  for  relief  in  the  matter  of  subscription 
to  the  Liturgy  and  thirty-nine  Articles  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land." [By  John  Disney.  2d  edition.  London,  1775.]  XXII,  24 
pages.  8vo.  This  second  edition  appeared  seven  years  before 
Disney  left  the  established  Church  and  became  a  Unitarian  and 
colleague  of  Theophilus  Lindsey. 

In  1768  Francis  Stone  (1738-1813)  initiated  the  movement 
for  a  petition  to  Parliament  for  relief  from  clerical  subscrip- 
tion. Blackburne  drew  up  in  1771  a  set  of  Proposals. ^^  Under 
the  chairmanship  of  Stone  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  Feathers' 
Tavern  in  the  Strand  and  a  petition  to  Parliament  ^*  was  signed 
by  250  persons,  clergy  and  laymen,  for  giving  effect  to  Black- 
burne's proposals,  whose  main  object  was  to  bring  relief  to  the 
dissenters  by  the  abolition  of  clerical  subscription,  so  as  not 


"  On  The  Confessional,  see  also  Nichols,  Literary  Anecdotes,  Vol. 
3,  pp.  10-21    (London,  1812). 

"  Reprinted  in  Vol.  7,  pp.  1-12  of  his  theological  and  miscellaneous 
works  (Cambridge,  1804). 

"Reprinted,  ibid.,  pp.  13-19.  These  are  followed  in  the  same  volume 
on  pp.  21-31  by  "A  Sketch  of  Contradictions  and  inconsistencies  in  the 
obligations  laid  upon  clergymen,  in  order  to  qualify  themselves  for 
ministering  in  the  Church  of  England,  as  by  law  established"  [first 
printed,  1772]  ;  and  this  again,  on  pp.  33-228,  by  "Reflections  on  the 
fate  of  a  petition  for  relief  in  the  matter  of  subscription,  .  .  .  The 
2d  edition"   [first  printed,  1774]. 


POST-CAROLINE  REVISION   ATTEMPTS  1 5 

to  exclude  them  in  the  future  from  the  universities  and  conse- 
quently, to  some  extent,  from  the  liberal  professions.  The  peti- 
tion was  presented  to  the  House  of  Commons  on  February  6, 
1773,  by  Sir  William  Meredith,  Baronet.  The  bishops,  how- 
ever, were  opposed  to  changes  of  any  kind  and  were  supported 
by  the  Government.  It  was  rejected  by  a  vote  of  271  to  71, 
after  a  speech  in  condemnation,  by  Edmund  Burke.  The  move- 
ment soon  died  out.  In  1774  Francis  WoUaston  ^^  published 
"Queries  relating  to  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  &c.,  with 
proposed  amendments.  Addressed  to  those  in  authority  and 
submitted  to  their  consideration."    London.    8vo. 

The  book  was  soon  forgotten  amidst  the  political  disturb- 
ances created  by  the  declaration  of  independence  of  the  Ameri- 
can colonies  and  the  subsequent  war  of  independence. 

IV. 

Two  years  after  "The  Church  of  England  in  America" 
had  ceased  to  exist  and  had  reappeared  as  "The  American 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,"  a  General  Convention,  held  in 
Philadelphia,  drew  up  and  framed  their  liturgy,  known  as  "the 
Proposed  Book."  It  embodied  many  of  the  proposals  of  the 
Royal  Commission  of  1689,  for  the  enactment  of  which  so 
many  of  the  English  clergy  during  the  eighteenth  century  had 
striven  in  vain.  While  the  Proposed  Book  was  severely  disap- 
proved of  by  the  English  bishops  and  by  many  of  the  clergy 
of  the  American  Church,  it  acted  as  a  stimulus  and  incentive 
for  fresh  efforts  on  the  part  of  many  followers  in  England  of 
John  Jones,  Blackburne  and  Wollaston. 

In  the  year  1788  appeared  "Hints,  &c.,  submitted  to  the 
serious  attention  of  the  clergy,  nobility  and  gentry,  newly  asso- 
ciated." By  a  layman,  a  friend  of  the  true  principles  of  the 
Constitution,  in  church  and  state,  and  to  religious  and  civil 
liberty.  London,  1788.  8vo.  This  first  edition  was  recalled  in 
consequence  of  the  king's  illness.  Immediately  upon  the  latter's 
recovery,  a  second,  revised  and  enlarged,  edition  was  issued  in 
1789.  (4),  72  pages.  8vo.  It  urged  the  propriety  of  amendment 
of  life  by  the  upper  classes,  and  greater  attention  to  public  wor- 
ship, to  insure  which  a  revision  of  the  Liturgy  was  necessary. 
On  pages  55-72  the  author  prints  David  Hughes'  "Scruples  of 
a  country  curate,"  in  confirmation  of  the  arguments  elucidated 


"Born  1731  and  died   1815.     Ordained  deacon  in   1754  and  priest 
in  the  following  year. 


l6  POST-CAROLINE  REVISION   ATTEMPTS 

in  his  brochure.  It  is  well  known  now  that  the  writer  was 
Augustus  Henry  Fitzroy,  third  duke  of  Grafton  (1735-1811). 
It  was  through  some  of  Bishop  Watson's  little  tracts  and  his 
acquaintance  with  the  new  Liturgy  of  the  American  Church 
that  Grafton  turned  his  attention  to  religious  inquiry. 

Grafton's  publication  was  attacked  and  his  views  con- 
demned by  several  writers.  Two  pamphlets  soon  appeared,  one 
entitled  "A  vindication  of  the  doctrine  and  liturgy  of  the  Church 
of  England,  in  answer  to  a  pamphlet,  entitled  'Hints  to  the  New 
Association,'  and  other  late  publications  of  a  similar  tendency. 
In  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  in  the  country  to  a  friend  in 
town."  London :  Debrett,  1790.  59  pages.  8vo.  The  author 
maintains  that  "there  are  no  parts  of  the  liturgy  to  which 
a  candid  person  can  reasonably  object."  Simultaneously  came 
out  "An  apology  for  the  liturgy  and  clergy  of  the  Church  of 
England:  in  answer  to  a  pamphlet,  entitled  'Hints,  &c.,  by  a 
layman.'  In  a  letter  to  the  author,  by  a  clergyman."  London: 
Rivingtons,  1790.  95  pages.  8vo.  The  "clergyman"  has  been 
supposed  to  be  Samuel  Horsley  (1733-1806),  Bishop  succes- 
sively of  St.  David's  and  St.  Asaph. 

The  Duke  of  Grafton  had  been  a  patron  of  Richard  Wat- 
son (1737-1816),  Bishop  of  Llandaff  (1782-1816),  especially 
while  the  latter  was  regius  professor  of  divinity  at  Cambridge. 
During  his  lifetime  Watson  was  equally  distinguished  as  a 
divine,  a  natural  philosopher,  a  polite  scholar  and  a  politician. 
When  the  duke's  views  were  condemned,  he  found  a  staunch 
defender  in  the  bishop,  who  wrote  "Considerations  on  the  ex- 
pediency of  revising  the  liturgy  and  articles  of  the  Church  of 
England:  in  which  notice  is  taken  of  the  objections  to  that 
measure ;  urged  in  two  late  pamphlets."  By  a  consistent  Protes- 
tant. London  :  Cadell,  1790.  (1),  113  pages.  8vo.  A  second 
edition  appeared  during  the  same  year,  1790.  "The  reader," 
says  a  contemporary  critic,  "will  here  meet  with  the  knowledge 
of  a  scholar,  the  liberality  of  a  gentleman,  and  the  serious- 
ness of  a  Christian;  and  he  will  see  an  excellent  specimen  of 
that  manly  freedom  and  spirit,  with  which  it  is  possible  to  as- 
sert our  own  opinions,  without  the  smallest  mixture  of  rude- 
ness or  offence  toward  those  who  differ  from  us.  Without  deny- 
ing any  one  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England,  the  author  has 
shown,  that  it  is  inherent  in  the  very  nature  of  Protestantism, 
and  incumbent  on  all  who  would  claim,  with  consistency,  the 
title  of  Protestant,  to  maintain  their  Christian  liberty ;  to  press 
continually  onward  to  higher  degrees  of  perfection;  and  not 


POST-CAROLINR   REVISION   ATTEMPTS  IJ 

to  abandon  the  principles,  nor  defeat  the  intentions,  of  their 
ancestors,  by  bhndly  acquiescing  in  their  decisions,  or  in  those 
of  any  other  man,  or  number  of  men,  however  venerable  and 
learned."  ^' 

V. 

Amidst  the  excitement  created  in  England  by  these  new 
attempts  on  the  part  of  Lords,  temporal  and  spiritual,  and 
others,  to  bring  about  a  revision  of  the  Liturgy  and  the  Articles, 
there  appeared  in  London  the  reprint  of  the  "Proposed  Book 
of  1785/G."    Its  title,  conforming  to  the  original,  reads: 

The  I  Book  |  of  |  Common  Prayer,  |  And  Administration 
of  the  I  Sacraments,  |  And  other  |  Rites  and  Ceremonies,  |  As 
revised  and  proposed  to  the  Use  |  of  |  The  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  I  At  a  Convention  of  the  said  Church,  in  the  State  of  | 
Xew-York,  New-Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  |  Maryland, 
X^irginia  and  South-Carolina  |  Held  in  Philadelphia,  from  Sep- 
tember 27th  to  October  7th,  1785,  ||  Philadelphia,  Printed:  | 
London,  |  Reprinted  for  J.  Debrett,  |  Opposite  Burlington 
House,  Piccadilly.  |  m;      dcc  ;      lxxxix.| 

The  book  has  362  unnumbered  pages,  the  last  page  con- 
taining as  Errata  three  corrections  of  printer's  errors  in  the 
"Psalms  fitted  to  the  Tunes  used  in  Churches,  selected  from 
the  Psalms  of  David;  Portions  of  which  are  to  be  sung  at 
suitable  Times  in  Divine  Service,  according  to  the  Direction 
of  the  Minister."  These  errors  are  to  be  found  also  in  the 
edition  of  1786,  without,  however,  being  detected  by  the  final 
proofreader.  Hence,  in  the  original  output  this  last  page  (362) 
is  blank. 

The  page  of  type  in  the  London  reprint  measures  3^  by 
5^  inches;  that  of  the  1786  book  3t^  by  6  inches.  The  size 
of  the  page  of  paper,  untrimmed,  is  43/2  by  7^  inches.  The 
eight  pages  of  engraved  tunes  of  the  1786  output  were  not 
reprinted. 

The  reprint  follows  the  original  very  closely  in  arrange- 
ment as  well  as  in  typography.  Only  now  and  then  do  the  lines 
differ  in  the  reprint  from  the  arrangement  in  the  original.  In 
addition,  there  are  several  variations,  chiefly  in  the  calendar. 

The  two  publications  differ  materially  as  regards  the 
signatures : 

The  1786  book  is  arranged  as  follows:  Signatures  a-e,  in 
fours,  for  the  introductory  matter,  i.  e.,  Nos.  1-4  of  the  table 


See,  also,  Monthly  Revteiv,  Series  2,  Vol.  2  (1790),  pp.  401-403. 


l8  POST-CAROLINE   REVISION    ATTEMPTS 

of  contents.  Of  these  forty  initial  pages,  pages  1-4  are  blank, 
page  5,  title;  6,  Extracts  from  the  Minutes  of  the  Convention, 
and  the  certificate  of  the  notary  public;  page  7,  the  contents 
of  this  book,  reverse  blank.  Preface,  pages  9-16.  Pages  17-40 
contain  the  three  tables  (Nos.  3-4  of  table  of  contents).  This 
introductory  matter  is  printed  in  long  lines  across  the  page. 
The  text  proper  is  on  signatures  A-Z,  Aa-Ss  2,  in  fours,  Ss  3, 
reverse,  is  blank.  Ss  4,  obverse,  contains  the  title :  Tunes  | 
suited  to  the  |  Psalms  and  Hymns  |  of  the  |  Book  |  of  |  Com- 
mon Prayer  |  ;  reverse  blank.  Follov^  eight  pages  of  engraved 
music.  The  text  is  printed  in  two  columns  to  the  page,  except- 
ing the  selections  from  the  metrical  Psalms  and  the  fifty-one 
hymns  (Nos.  26  and  27  of  the  table  of  contents).  At  the  end 
of  the  hymns  is  printed  the  line :  End  of  the  Prayer-Book. 

The  signatures  of  the  London  reprint  are  as  follows:  In- 
troductory matter  on  a  3  and  4 ;  b,  6  leaves ;  A,  6  leaves,  and 
B  1,  2,  3  and  4.  The  text  begins  on  B  5.  Follows  B  6,  and 
C-P  in  twelves ;  Q,  6  leaves.  The  text  ends  on  Q  5,  obverse, 
with  the  words,  "End  of  the  Prayer  Book."  The  reverse  con- 
tains Errata.  The  last  leaf  of  this  signature  is  covered  with 
publisher's  announcements.  The  distribution  of  the  type  into 
one  or  two  columns  is  the  same  as  in  the  Philadelphia  imprint 
of  1786.'^ 

In  volume  one  of  the  Historical  Magazine  and  Notes  and 
Queries  concerning  the  Antiquities,  History  and  Biography  of 
America  (Boston,  1857),  the  late  Bishop  William  Stevens 
Perry  (1832-1898),  at  that  time  assistant  minister  at  St.  Paul's 
Church,  Boston,  Massachusetts,  had  printed  on  pages  219-221 
the  titles  of  eight  early  editions  of  the  American  Prayer  Book, 
prior  to  A.  D.  1800.  The  English  reprint  of  the  Proposed 
Book  is  mentioned  here  as  No.  III.  In  a  note  Bishop  Perry 
further  stated:  "The  only  copy  of  this  [i.  e.,  No.  Ill]  I  have 
ever  seen  was  in  the  library  of  the  Rev.  Wm.  B.  Stevens,  D.D., 
of  Philadelphia,  and  contains  immediately  under  the  book-plate 
of  one  of  the  English  nobility,  from  whose  collection  it 
originally  came,  the  manuscript  note  that  only  fifty  copies  were 
published — probably  for  the  use  of  the  English  bishops  who 
were  then  considering  the  request  of  the  American  Church  for 


"  On  the  importance  of  signatures  in  the  examination  of  original 
and  reprint  see  especially  the  article  on  "The  duplicity  of  duplicates," 
by  Falconer  Madan,  Bodleian  Librarian  in  the  University  of  Oxford, 
England,  Transactions  of  the  Bibliographical  Societv,  London,  1914, 
Vol.  12,  pp.  15-20. 


POST-CAROLINE  REVISION  ATTEMPTS  IQ 

the  'succession.'  Its  rarity  may  be  also  inferred  from  the  fact 
of  its  re-pubHcation  as  one  of  the  volumes  of  'Reliquiae  Litur- 
gicae,  Documents  connected  with  the  Liturgy  of  the  Church  of 
England,  Exhibiting  the  substitutes  that  have  been  succes- 
sively proposed  for  it  at  home,  and  the  alterations  that  have 
been  made  in  the  adaptation  of  it  to  other  Churches.  Edited 
by  the  Rev.  Peter  Hall,  M.A.  5  volumes.  18°.  Bristol,  Eng., 
1841."  In  the  printed  sermon  of  Bishop  Perry,  The  American 
Prayer  Book  revisions  of  I'jS^  and  1789,  delivered  at  Christ 
Church,  Philadelphia,  October  10,  1892,  and  printed  in  1893, 
we  find  on  page  17,  note,  the  sentence  "This  work  [the  Pro- 
posed Book]  was  reprinted  in  London  in  1789,  and  was  highly 
praised  in  a  critical  notice  in  the  Monthly  Review  (Vol.  80, 
p.  337)."  The  reference  should  rather  read  Series  1,  Vol.  80, 
pages  387-390. 

Thus  Bishop  Perry.  He  is  followed  by  the  Rev.  Fred- 
erick Gibson  in  his  bibliographical  sketch  of  "The  standard 
editions  of  the  American  Book  of  Common  Prayer,"  con- 
tributed to  the  Liturgiae  Americanae  of  William  McGarvey 
(Philadelphia,  1895).  Under  the  heading  "Proposed  Edition 
of  the  American  Prayer  Book,"  Dr.  Gibson  has  printed  on 
page  Lv  "The  short-lived  'Proposed  Book'  was  printed  in 
Philadelphia,  Hall  &  Sellers,  MDCCLXXXVl,  8vo,  and  4000 
copies  of  it  were  ordered  to  be  published.  A  few  of  these  were 
handsomely  bound  in  red  morocco  with  gilt  ornamentation.  It 
was  reprinted  in  London,  England,  M,  DCC,  LXXXIX,  8vo, 
and  from  a  manuscript  note  in  Bishop  Stevens'  copy,  as  men- 
tioned in  The  Historical  Magazine,  vol.  I,  p.  221,  we  learn 
that  there  were  only  fifty  copies  of  this  English  Reprint  pub- 
lished, and  these  were  probably  for  the  use  of  the  English 
Bishops,  who  were  then  considering  the  request  of  the  Ameri- 
can Church  for  the  'Succession.'  " 

Likewise,  John  Wright,  Early  Prayer  Books  of  America 
(1896),  page  103,  states  "The  book  (of  1786)  was  reprinted 
in  London  in  1789,  and  the  copies  were  limited,  it  is  said,  to 
fifty." 

It  is  a  matter  of  surprise  that  men  of  the  type  of  Perry 
and  Gibson  should  not  at  once  have  noted  the  anachronism  in 
this  statement  concerning  the  raison  d'etre  of  the  republication 
of  the  Proposed  Book  in  1789,  two  full  years  after  Bishops 
White  and  Provoost  had  been  consecrated,  February  4,  1787; 
and  that  not  one  of  the  more  recent  writers  on  the  Book  of 


20  POST-CAROLINE  REVISION   ATTEMPTS 

Common  Prayer  should  have  found  the  right  interpretation  of 
the  statement  copied  by  Bishop  Perry.  The  statement,  although 
written  on  the  inside  front  cover  of  the  London  reprint,  had 
reference  only  to  fifty  copies  of  the  1786  output  sent  for  ex- 
amination to  the  English  bishops.  These  copies  were  received 
by  the  bishops  "the  last  day  of  April"  [1786].  For,  in  their 
answer  to  the  second  address  of  the  American  clergy,  which 
was  read  at  the  General  Convention  held  at  Wilmington,  Dela- 
ware, October  10,  1786,  the  archbishops  state  that  "The  Jour- 
nal of  the  Convention,  and  the  first  part  of  the  Liturgy,  did  not 
reach  us  till  more  than  two  months  after  our  receipt  of  your 
address  [dated  October  5,  1785],  and  we  were  not  in  posses- 
sion of  the  remaining  part  of  it,  till  the  last  day  of  April" 
[1786]. 

The  committee  appointed  to  edit  the  Proposed  Book  had 
sent  the  printed  sheets  to  England  as  they  came  from  the  press, 
but  through  some  miscarriage  they  had  not  reached  the  bishops 
at  the  time  of  their  answer  to  the  first  address  by  the  American 
clergy.  Fifty  copies  of  the  four  thousand  of  the  Proposed 
Book  were  undoubtedly  sent  to  England  and  to  these  applies 
the  remark  found  by  Bishop  Perry  in  the  London  reprint,  as 
stated  above. 

It  is  said  by  Procter-Frere,  A  new  history  of  the  Book 
of  Common  Prayer  (London,  1905),  page  238,  that  the  Pro- 
posed Book  "was  reprinted  in  England  with  the  label  'Ameri- 
can Prayer  Book'  " ;  and  Dean  Hart,  The  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  (1910),  page  30,  note  5,  has  it  that  the  English  reprint 
was  put  out  "with  the  label  'American  Prayer  Book.'  " 

I  have  examined  a  number  of  copies  of  this  London  re- 
print, most  of  them  in  original  cardboard  covers  and  with 
wntrimmed  edges ;  but  not  one  has  the  label  "American  Prayer 
Book."  The  statements  of  Frere  and  of  Dean  Hart  can  only 
mean  that  the  whole  output  of  1789  was  labelled  by  the  pub- 
lisher  "American    Prayer   Book.'' 

Upon  inquiry,  Dean  Hart  writes  to  me,  10th  August,  1914, 
"My  copy  of  the  English  reprint  of  the  Proposed  Book  is  in 
the  original  cardboard  binding,  untrimmed  edges,  and  has  a 
label  on  the  back  between  the  second  and  third  ribs  with 

American 
Common 
Prayer 
done  with  a  pen.    And  I  am  confident  that  I  have  seen  other 
copies  thus  labelled.     .     .     ." 


POST-CAROLINE   REVISION    ATTEMPTS  21 

This,  I  believe,  is  most  evident  proof  of  the  fact  that  the 
edition  was  not  marked  by  the  pubhsher  as  "American  Prayer 
Book" ;  that,  in  every  case,  it  was  done  by  some  early  indi- 
vidual owner  in  England. 

We  hope  to  have,  thus  far,  succeeded  in  relegating  to  the 
land  of  fairy-tales  the  stories  of  the  limited  output  of  the 
London  reprint  and  of  its  being  labelled,  by  the  publisher. 
"American  Prayer  Book." 

And,  now,  we  are  ready  for  the  main  question,  why  should 
this  American  publication,  attacked,  rejected  and  ignored  in 
the  country  of  its  birth,  have  been  republished  in  England 
fully  three  years  after  its  original  publication  in  America  ?  Who 
had  it  reprinted  and  what  was  his  purpose  in  so  doing? 

VI. 

In  the  same  year,  1789,  in  which  this  London  reprint  ap- 
peared, there  was  printed  for  John  Debrett,  a  treatise,  entitled 
"Observations  upon  the  Liturgy.  With  a  proposal  for  its  re- 
form, upon  the  principles  of  Christianity,  as  professed  and 
taught  by  the  Church  of  England;  .  .  .  by  a  layman  of  the 
Church  of  England,  late  an  Under  Secretary  of  State.  To 
which  is  added.  The  Journals  of  the  American  Convention, 
appointed  to  frame  an  ecclesiastical  constitution,  and  prepare 
a  liturgy  for  the  Episcopal  Churches  in  the  United  States." 
London     .     .     .     (1),  312,  (1)  pages.    8vo. 

The  author  of  these  Observations  writes  on  the  subject  of 
revision  not  with  the  asperity  of  a  sectarian,  but  with  the  mild- 
ness of  a  friend  to  the  national  Church  of  England.  He  points 
out,  in  a  dispassionate  and  agreeable  manner,  many  defects  in 
the  Liturgy  which  evidently  require  amendment.  Anxious  for 
its  prosperity  and  reputation,  he  longs  to  have  its  public  service 
rendered  wholly  unobjectionable.  He  proposes  no  changes  in 
the  constitution,  or  discipline  of  the  Church;  he  merely  sug- 
gests the  propriety  of  removing  a  few  expressions  from  the 
Liturgy  which  he  thinks  it  can  very  well  spare. 

Reviewing  the  Liturgy  he  summarizes  under  four  heads 
the  particulars  in  which  the  Church  of  England  may  be  said 
to  give  ofifence  to  real  Christians,  who  make  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures the  rule  of  their  faith. 

Quoting  the  author  as  nearly  verhatiui  as  possible,  we 
mention  that : 

"The  first  is  the  retaining  in  its  articles  and  liturgy  things 
or  expressions  which  the  most  orthodox  of  the  clergy  think 


22  POST-CAROLINE  REVISION   ATTEMPTS 

it  necessary  to  explain  away  in  the  pulpit,  or  give  a  very  dif- 
ferent meaning  to  from  what  the  words  made  use  of  convey 
in  their  ordinary  and  usual  acceptation"  (p.  15).  The  author 
instances  the  teaching  of  the  9th,  11th  and  13th  articles  of  re- 
ligion ^^  and  the  statement  in  the  Catechism  concerning  the 
unworthy  receiving  of  the  Communion. 

"Under  the  second  head  may  be  comprised  such  things  in 
the  articles  or  liturgy,  which,  perhaps,  from  a  desire  to  avoid 
the  danger  of  reforming  too  much,  or  to  accommodate  to  the 
prejudices  of  men  at  the  time,  or  from  the  fallibility  of  human 
reasons  in  those  who  compiled  the  articles  and  liturgy,  are  not 
strictly  conformable  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles, 
and  cannot  be  literally  proved  from  the  New  Testament" 
(p.  17).  Among  other  instances  mentioned  under  this  heading 
as  calling  for  revision  the  author  says  (p.  27)  :  "I  trust  I  shall 
live  to  see  the  Apostles'  Creed  in  its  primitive  state,  the  only 
Creed  of  the  Church  of  England.  I  say  in  its  primitive  state, 
for  I  do  not  find  any  warrant  for  the  modern  interpolation 
of  Christ's  descent  into  Hell  as  that  place  is  considered  by 
Christians  as  the  place  of  punishment  for  the  fallen  angels 
and  wicked  men  after  judgment."  .  .  .  He  calls  to  our 
mind  the  promise  of  Christ  to  the  thief  upon  the  cross:  "This 
day  thou  shalt  be  with  me  in  Paradise.  Now,  if  the  soul  of 
Christ  went  both  to  Hell  (so  the  Apostles'  Creed)  and  to  Para- 
dise (so  the  New  Testament),  which  do  they  suppose  it  went 
to  first?  If  to  Hell,  he  must  have  taken  the  soul  of  the  penitent 
thief  along  with  him,  who  must  have  thought  it  at  least  a  round- 
about way  to  Paradise,  and  entertained  some  apprehensions 
that  his  conductor  had  mistaken  the  road.  .  .  .  But  if  it 
be  said  that  Christ  or  his  soul  went  into  Paradise  and  leav- 
ing there  the  penitent  thief,  went  down  aftertvards  into  Hell, 
the  article  ought  to  have  been  so  expressed,  and  his  ascent  into 
Paradise  put  before  his  descent  into  Hell''  (pp.  31,  33).  The 
excision  from  the  same  creed  of  the  words  "the  Holy  Cath- 
olic Church"  and  "The  Communion  of  Saints"  is  likewise 
urged.^^    He  would  alter  the  phrase  "sitting  at  the  right  hand 


"Articles  "Of  original  and  birth-sin";  "Of  the  justification  of  man," 
and  "Of  works  before  justification." 

"  These  two  articles  of  the  Apostles'  Creed  are  also  omitted  in  the 
adaptation  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  to  the  use  of  Unitarians 
which  the  Rev.  James  Freeman  prepared  in  1785  for  King's  Chapel,  in 
Boston.  Tt  is  quite  possible  that  the  writer  knew  Freeman's  publication, 
although  he  does  nowhere  in  his  book  betray  the  slightest  acquaintance 
with  this  socianized  prayer  book. 


POST-Cx\ROLINE   REVISION    ATTEMPTS  2;^ 

of  God"  for  "hereby  we  express  a  belief  and  teach  it  to  chil- 
dren, that  God  has  hands." 

"The  third  point,  which  has  been  the  natural,  though  most 
unhappy,  consequence  of  the  preceding  is  the  erroneous  zeal  of 
representing  and  defending  the  Athanasian  Creed  as  so 
literally  copied  from  the  Evangelists  and  Apostles,  that  who- 
soever refuse  his  consent  to  every  tittle  of  it,  is  considered  as 
a  disbeliever  of  Christ's  Divinity,  and  a  denyer  of  the  three 
distinctions  in  the  Divine  Nature  in  which  we  are  commanded 
to  be  baptized ;  and  what  is  still  more  to  be  lamented,  many 
who  go  to  that  creed  to  learn  Christianity  as  conceiving  it  to 
contain  nothing  but  what  all  Christians  must  and  do  believe, 
come  away  shocked  or  confounded,  and  in  compliment  to  their 
own  reason,  or  to  preserve  it.  enlist  under  the  banners  of 
Deism ;  in  so  much,  that  I  really  believe  that  creed  has  made 
more  Deists  than  all  the  writings  of  all  the  opugners  of  Chris- 
tianity, since  it  was  first  unfortunately  adopted  in  our  liturgv" 
(pp.  37-39). 20 

In  addition  to  the  Athanasian  Creed,  that  opprobrium  of 
orthodoxy,  of  which  already  Archbishop  John  Tillotson,  in 
answer  to  Bishop  Gilbert  Burnet,  in  1694.  wished  that  "we 
were  well  rid  of  it,"  the  author  would  also  exclude  the  Nicene 
Creed,  because  neither  are  drawn  in  terms  of  Scripture  nor  can 
they  be  proved  to  have  been  used  in  the  primitive  Church.  It 
is  well  known  to  the  twentieth  century  student  that  the  Nicene 
Creed  is  not  the  Creed  of  the  Council  of  Nice  nor  the  Athana- 
sian Creed  the  work  of  St.  Athanasius. 

"The  last  head  of  complaint,"  our  author  continues,  "I 
have  to  discuss  is  that  the  rulers  of  our  church,  though  sen- 
sible themselves  of  these  improprieties,  continue  to  press  them 
on  their  clergy  and  flocks,  and  oppose  all  attempts  to  reform 
and  correct  them"  fp.  39). 

Having  thus  finished  his  complaints  the  author  imbibes 
hope  for  the  near  future  from  the  proceedings  of  the  American 
Church,  stating  that: 

"Among  the  many  and  great  advantages  this  kingdom  has 
derived,  as  well  as  imminent  dangers  it  has  escaped,  through 
the  separation  of  the  thirteen  American  States  from  its  Gov- 
ernment, may  be  reckoned  the  erection  of  an  American  Epis- 
copal Church,  independent  of  that  of  England ;  the  heads  of 
which  have  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  make  those 


''"  Herein  the  atitlior  is  followed  especially  by  Bishop  Watson  in  his 
Cnusidcratioiis,  pp.  29  foil. 


24  POST-CAROLINE  REVISION   ATTEMPTS 

reforms  in  the  liturgy,  which  were  long  since  proposed  and  set- 
tled by  the  great  divines  who  flourished  in  the  reign  of  Queen 
Anne.  To  the  orthodoxy  of  this  reformed  liturgy,  our  whole 
illustrious  bench  of  Bishops  have  set  their  seal,  by  the  conse- 
cration of  Bishops  to  preside  over  and  superintend  the  Ameri- 
can Church  in  the  use  of  it."^  Thus  sanctioned,  I  have  caused  it 
to  be  reprinted  and  published  here,  for  the  general  informa- 
tion of  all  denominations  of  Christians,  but  especially  the  mem- 
bers of  the  established  Church ;  and  I  have  annexed  to  this 
paper  [pp.  95-212]  the  proceedings  of  the  American  Conven- 
tion, and  the  letters. to  them  from  the  English  Bishops  upon 
the  subject  of  their  new  establishment  and  reformed  liturgy ; 
and  whoever  reads  them  over,  without  feeling  his  heart  bum 
within  him,  at  the  manifestations  they  display  of  that  truly 
Christian  spirit ;  that  soundness  of  judgement  and  benevolence 
of  heart  which  the  writers  so  eminently  possess,  deserves  not 
to  be  of  the  flock  of  such  shepherds,  or  wants  sentiment  to 
enjoy  the  blessing  within  his  reach"  (pp.  40-42). 

Thus,  our  author.  And  who  was  he?  His  name  was 
William  Knox.  He  was  born  in  Ireland  in  1732  and  died  at 
Ealing,  near  London,  August  25,  1810.  In  1756  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  Lord  Halifax  "one  of  his  majesty's  council  and 
provost-marshal  of  Georgia."  He  returned  to  England  in  1761. 
George  Grenville  (1712-1790)  made  him  agent  in  Great  Britain 
for  Georgia  and  East  Florida.  In  the  interest  of  the  Colonies, 
Knox  sent  a  memorial  to  Lord  Bute  recommending  the  creation 
of  a  Colonial  aristocracy  and  the  inclusion  in  Parliament  of 
representatives  of  the  Colonies.  His  services  as  agent  were  dis- 
pensed with  by  resolution  of  the  Georgia  Assembly,  November 
15,  1765,  for  two  pamphlets  written  in  defense  of  the  Stamp 
Act  which  Knox  considered  to  be  the  least  objectionable  mode 
of  taxation.  In  the  same  year,  1765,  he  gave  evidence  before 
committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  on  the  state  of  the  Amer- 
ican colonies,  and  from  the  institution  of  the  secretaryship  of 
state  for  America,  in  1770,  to  its  suppression  by  Lord  Shel- 
burne,  in  1782,  he  acted  as  the  under  secretary.  His  views 
formed  a  basis  for  the  conciliatory  propositions  of  Lord  North 
in  1776. 


'"'  The  author  appears  here  to  be  either  overenthiisiastic  or  disin- 
genuous. He  knew  quite  well  that  the  American  Church  before  obtain- 
ing the  succession  had  promised  the  English  bishops  the  re-insertion  of 
the  clause  in  the  Apostles'  Creed  omitted  in  the  Proposed  Book  as  well 
as  the  restoration  of  at  least  the  Nicene  Creed. 


POST-CAROLINE  REVISION   ATTEMPTS  2$ 

Knox  was  the  .author  of  many  pamphlets,  most  of  which 
dealt  with  the  social,  economic  and  religions  affairs  and  con- 
ditions of  the  American  colonies. 

As  of  direct  interest  to  this  society  I  mention  that  in  1768 
Knox  drew  up  at  the  special  desire  of  Archbishop  Thomas 
Seeker,  three  tracts  on  the  conversion  and  instruction  of  the 
Indians  and  Negroes  of  the  Colonies.  And  as  the  subject  of 
two  of  these  tracts  was  much  agitated  at  the  time  when  he  pub- 
lished his  Observations,  he  had  them  reprinted  under  the  title 
"Three  tracts  respecting  the  conversion  and  instruction  of  the 
free  Indians  and  Xegroe  slaves  in  the  Colonies.  Addressed  to 
the  \  enerable  Society  for  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign 
Parts,  in  the  year  1768.  A  new  edition."  London:  Printed  for 
J.  Debrett  .  .  .  1789.  39  pages.  8vo.  Tract  one  is  devoted 
to  the  Indians  in  the  Colonies ;  tracts  two  and  three  to  the 
Xegro  slaves  in  the  Colonies. -- 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Church  Historical  Society: 
My  task  is  done.  I  hope  to  have  shown  not  only  the  identical 
person  who  had  caused  the  Proposed  Book  to  be  reprinted ;  but 
also,  and  above  all  else,  that  its  publication  was,  so  to  speak,  the 
climax  of  the  post-Caroline  attempts  at  a  revision  of  the 
Articles  and  of  the  Liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England.  That 
not  one  of  the  suggestions  made  so  frequently  and  so  urgently 
was  then  adopted  was  a  great  pity.  But  the  mind  of  the 
eighteenth  century  was  stiff  and  unbending  to  the  last  degree ; 
or  rather,  there  was  in  it  a  disastrous  mixture  of  laxity  in  prac- 
tice and  narrowness  in  theory.  "Our  happy  establishment"  was 
right  enough  in  their  estimation,  as  it  was  then ;  and  the  general 
presumption  was  that  any  change  would  be  for  the  worse. 

Eighty  years  after  the  London  reprint  of  the  Proposed 
Book  passed  before  any  of  the  requests  of  John  Jones  and  his 
collaborators  were  carried  out,  by  the  enactment  of  the  new 
lectionary,  in  1871,  and  the  shortening  of  the  morning  service, 
in  1872. 

During  the  last  thirty  years  ecclesiastical  conditions  in 
England  have  greatly  changed.  The  litin-gical  expansion  which 
has  been  such  a  decided  feature  of  the  Catholic  revival  has 
grown  apace.   But  up  to  the  present  time  no  thorough  and  satis- 


"  On  Knox  see  Almon's  Biographical,  Literary  and  Political  Anec- 
dotes, .  .  .  Vol.  2,  pp.  112-115.  London,  1797.  William  Bacon 
Stevens,  History  of  Georgia,  Vol.  2,  pp.  42-43 :  and  the  same  author's 
Discourse  delivered  before  the  Georgia  Historical  Society,  Savannah, 
on  PViday,  Feb.  12,   1841.     Savannah,  1841,  pp.  10-11. 


26  POST-CAROLTNE  REVISION   ATTEMPTS 

factory  revision  of  the  rubrics  and  the  hturgy,  in  general,  has 
been  made.  Preparations,  to  be  sure,  are  being  carried  on  and 
have  been  pubhshed  in  the  Report  and  the  Minutes  of  the  Royal 
Commission  on  Ecclesiastical  Discipline,  printed  in  1906. 

The  need  of  a  thorough,  yet  conservative,  revision  of  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer  and  its  directions  so  as  to  adapt  it  to 
the  wants  of  the  modern,  up-to-date  congregation  and  church 
attendant  is  felt  more  and  more  in  conservative  as  well  as  in 
liberal  circles.  That  the  call  for  such  a  revision  is  not  confined 
to  one  party  in  the  church,  is  proven  by  such  publications  as 
Frere's  "Principles  of  liturgical  reform"  (London,  1911;  2d 
edition,  1914).  "Prayer  Book  Revision.  A  plea  for  thorough- 
ness. By  a  sexagenarian  layman"  (London.  1911).  and  the 
same  author's  "Notes  on  the  intellectual  condition  of  the  Church 
of  England"  (London,  1914).  Athelstan  Riley,  "Prayer  Book 
Revision"  (Alcuin  Club  Tracts,  No.  9)  London.  1911.  T.  A. 
Lacey,  "Liturgical  interpolations  and  the  revision  of  the  Prayer 
Book."  London,  1913.  In  1913  appeared  "A  Prayer  Book 
revised;  being  the  services  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
with  sundry  alterations  and  additions  offered  to  the  reader. 
With  a  preface  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Charles  Gore,  D.D.,  Lord 
Bishop  of  Oxford."  London,  XXV.  259  pages.  Small  8vo. 
An  important  contribution  to  the  question  of  Prayer  Book 
reconstruction"  (Guardian).  "Revision  of  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon Pra3'er  from  the  point  of  view  of  a  parish  priest."  By  Rev. 
E.  Boggis.  Canterbury,  1914. 

In  conclusion  I  should  like  to  call  your  special  attention 
to  a  set  of  seven  pamphlets  which  are  perhaps  not  known  to 
some  here  present,  but  are  of  great  importance.  Their  general 
title  is  "Prayer  Book  Revision  series."  Edited  by  Canon  Beech- 
ing.  London,  1910.  Each  numbering  32  pages.  12mo.  The 
series  represents  fairly  the  general  attitude  of  the  clergy  of  the 
Church  of  England  toward  a  new  revision.  Of  the  seven  tracts 
the  editor,  Canon  Henry  Charles  Beeching,  contributes  the  first 
on  "The  desirability  of  revision."  The  two  main  points  at  issue 
appear  to  be  the  Ornaments  Rubric  and  the  Athanasian  Creed,"'* 


"^  On  the  creeds  in  modern  literature  see,  e.  g.,  Rt.  Rev.  Edgar  C.  S. 
Gibson,  The  Three  Creeds.  London:  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  1908. 
fThe  Oxford  Library  of  Practical  Theology.]  W.  S.  Bishop.  The 
Development  of  Trinitarian  Doctrine  in  the  Niccne  and  Athunasian 
Creeds.  New  "^'ork,  1910.  A.  B.  Crane,  The  Creed  of  Righteousness ; 
or  the  Justification  by  Faith  of  the  Psalm  Qtiicunque.  London,  1907. 
C.  Gore.  Bishop  of  Oxford,  The  Athanasian  Creed  in  Oxford  house 
papers.     3d  Series.     London,  1897.     C.  A.  Heurtley,  A  History  of  the 


POST-CAROLINE  REVISION   ATTEMPTS  2/ 

the  latter  rejected  also  in  toto  by  Frere.  The  Very  Rev.  Joseph 
Armitage  Robinson,  dean  of  Westminster  and  one  of  the 
greatest  biblical  students  of  England,  discusses  "vSome  practical 
proposals  regarding  the  revision  of  the  Prayer  Book."  After 
a  consideration  of  the  points  pro  and  contra  as  to  changes 
affecting  the  Ornaments  Rubric,  the  Athanasian  Creed,  the 
Lectionary.  and  the  Psalter,  the  dean  states  (pp.  30,  31)  :  "I 
should  wish  to  see  an  authoritative  Appendix  to  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  containing  some  additional  prayers  and  serv- 
ices, and  some  over-riding  rubrics.  .  .  .  Such  an  Appen- 
dix might  be  approved  even  by  Parliament  without  risking  any 
interference  with  the  Prayer  Book,  such  as  many  persons  not 
unnaturally  dread.  After  a  generation  it  could,  if  need  be, 
undergo  revision  in  the  light  of  experience.  Presently  the  time 
would  come  for  what  the  lawyers  know  as  codification,  and  a 
revised  Prayer  Book  would  be  the  result."  The  Very  Rev. 
Edward  Clarke  Wickham,  dean  of  Lincoln,  writes  on  "Revision 
of  rubrics,  its  purpose  and  principles."  "The  Revision  of  the 
Lectionary"  is  taken  up  by  the  Rev.  William  Emery  Barnes, 
Hulsean  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the  University  of  Cambridge. 
The  dean  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  the  Very  Rev.  Thomas 
Banks  Strong,  expresses  as  to  "the  use  of  the  Quicunque  vult 
in  divine  service,"  the  conviction  that  the  case  for  a  change 
of  the  present  rubric  is  overwhelming.  The  Quicunque  vult 
is  a  canticle  or  psalm,  but  not  a  creed,  even  though  it  is  thus 


Earlier  Formularies  of  Faith  of  the  Western  and  Eastern  churches: 
added  an  Exposition  of  the  Athanasian  Creed.  London,  1892.  D. 
Macleane.  The  Athanasian  Creed.  London,  1902.  [The  St.  Paul's 
Handbooks.]  R.  O.  P.  Tajdor,  The  Athanasian  Creed  in  the  Tiventieth 
Century.  Edinburgh,  1911.  K.  S.  Guthrie,  Critical  Essays  on  the  Tivo 
Creeds:  the  Apostles'  and  the  Nicene  Creeds,  and  the  Lambeth  Articles. 
In  his  The  Soteriology  of  Jesus.  Philadelphia.  11896.]  M.  MacColI, 
Christianity  in  Relation  to  Science  and  Morals.  3d  edition.  London, 
1890.  (Lectures  on  the  Nicene  Creed.)  F.  Palmer,  Studies  in  theo- 
logic  definition  underlying  the  Apostles'  and  Nicene  Creeds.  New- 
York,' 1 895.  H.  B.  Swete,  The  Apostles'  Creed:  its  relation  to  primitive 
Christianity.  London,  1894.  Adolf  Harnack,  The  Apostles'  Creed. 
London.  1901.  H.  C.  Beeching.  The  Apostles'  Creed.  New  York,  1905. 
W.  R.  Richards,  The  Apostles'  Creed  in  Modern  Worship.  New  York, 
1906.  Of  special  interest  to  the  members  of  the  Society  will  be  the 
many  contributions  of  Andrew  Eubank  Burn,  the  learned  vicar  of 
Halifax,  England,  viz..  An  Introduction  to  the  Creeds  and  to  the  Te 
Deum  (1899);  The  Athanasian  Creed  and  Its  Earlv  Commentaries 
(1896);  The  Apostles'  Creed  (1906);  The  Nicene  Creed  (1909),  aiid 
The  Athanasian  Creed  (1912),  three  booklets  published  in  the  series 
called  "The  Oxford  Churcli  Text-books" ;  Facsimiles  of  the  Creeds 
from  Early  Manuscripts  (1909)  =  Henry  Bradshaw  Society  Publica- 
tions.    Vol.  36. 


28  POST-CAROLINE  REVISION   ATTEMPTS 

called  in  the  Prayer  Book.  It  was  written  in  the  south  of 
France,  or  possibly  in  Spain,  during  the  fifth  century,  a  century 
of  appalling  disasters,  brought  about,  to  a  large  extent,  by  the 
Arian  heretical  Goths  and  Vandals.  It  was  then  that  the  pro- 
cessional litanies  sprung  up.  It  was  then  that  the  Quicunque 
vult  was  composed  and  chanted  as  a  war  cry,  a  manifesto,  a 
declaration  of  faith.  "The  Revision  of  the  Prayer  Book 
Psalter"  should  be  thorough  going  according  to  the  Rt.  Rev. 
Herbert  Edward  Ryle.  Bishop  of  Winchester  and  leading  Old 
Testament  scholar.  "At  present  the  Prayer  Book  V^ersion  de- 
serves to  be  regarded  much  more  in  the  light  of  a  generally 
good  and  beautiful  paraphrase  made  by  good  Miles  Coverdale. 
than  of  an  accurate,  literal  or  scholarly  translation.  But,  as  a 
paraphrase,  it  admits  of  being  relieved  of  numerous  grave  de- 
fects which  needlessly  impair  its  intelligibility  and  its  accuracy." 
The  last  pamphlet  of  the  series  contains  a  scholarly  discussion 
of  "The  Ornaments  Rubric"  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Archibald  Robin- 
son, Bishop  of  Exeter."  "It  would  be  well  worth  the  while  of 
all  to  make  sacrifices  of  private  predilection ;  of  High  Church- 
men to  allow  the  prohibition,  of  Low  Churchmen  to  consent  to 
the  authorisation  of  vestments,  if  only  we  could  get  back  to 
clear  authority"  (p.  31).^* 
Tlie  Boston  Public  Library^ 

Boston,  Massachusetts. 


"  The  provincial  convocations  of  the  Church  of  England  have  been 
busy  during  the  year  1914  with  revision  proposals.  The  Upper  House 
of  the  Convocation  of  Canterbury  decided  on  Wednesday,  February  10, 
1915,  in  accordance  with  the  report  of  the  joint  committee  on  the  re- 
vision of  the  Prayer  Book,  not  to  embody  the  proposed  changes  in  the 
text,  but  to  issue  them  in  a  separate  volume  or  schedule  for  optional 
use  for  a  period  at  present  not  settled.  This  decision  represents  the 
state  of  opinion  and  the  limits  of  authority  in  the  Church  at  present. 
The  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  with  all  its  claims  for  recognition,  is  not 
strictly  followed  today  ;  and  no  revision  of  it  seems  likely  to  win  gen- 
eral acceptance.  On  the  report  of  the  Joint  Committee  on  Prayer  Book 
Revision,  see  the  Guardian  (London,  England),  February  25,  1915,  p. 
174.  A  criticism  of  this  report  from  the  Roman  Catholic  point  of  view 
is  printed  in  the  Tablet.  March  6,  1915,  pp.  297-298.  A  sermon  on 
'Trayer  Book  Revision,"  preached  by  Canon  Beeching  before  the 
University  of  Oxford,  Sunday,  November  30,  1913,  is  printed  in  full  in 
the  Guardian,  December  5,  1913,  pp.  1536-1537;  and,  an  address  on 
Prayer  Book  Revision,  by  Chancellor  Edward  Russell  Bernard,  of  Salis- 
bury Diocese,  in  the  same  weekly,  April  22,  1915,  p.  348. 


November  9,  1910. 

The  second  meeting  of  the  Church  Historical  Society  was 
held  in  the  Lecture  Room  of  the  Widener  Free  Library,  Phila- 
delphia, Wednesday  evening,  November  9,  1910,  the  vice-presi- 
dent, Major  Moses  Veale,  presiding. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Cortlandt  Whitehead,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Bishop 
of  Pittsburgh,  delivered  the  following  address  upon  the  "Early 
History  of  the  Church  in  Western  Pennsylvania" : 


THE     EARLY     HISTORY     OF     THE     CHURCH     IN 

WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA. 

By  the  Rt.  Rev.  Cortlandt  Whitehead,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Bishop 

of  Pittsburgh. 

The  records  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  Western  Penn- 
sylvania now  accessible  do  not  extend  beyond  the  year  1792. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  its  services  and  sacraments  were 
frequently  celebrated  before  that  date.  In  1758  General  Forbes 
obtained  possession  of  the  ground  at  the  forks  of  the  Ohio, 
and  there  created  Fort  Pitt.  The  colonial  government  of  Penn- 
sylvania was  desirous  of  opening  an  accessible  communication 
with  that  distant  post,  and  accordingly  dispatched  Colonel  Burd 
with  two  hundred  men  to  open  the  road  from  Braddock's  trail 
at  the  western  base  of  Small  Hills  to  the  Monongahela  River 
at  Redston  Old  Fort  (now  Brownsville,  Penna.).  The  Rev. 
Dr.  Allison  accompanied  the  expedition  as  chaplain,  and  was 
doubtless  the  first  Episcopal,  or  at  that  time,  Church  of  England, 
or  Protestant  clergyman,  that  had  ever  preached  west  of  the 
Alleghenies.  How  long  Dr.  Allison  remained,  or  what  became 
of  him,  we  have  no  means  of  knowing.  From  the  year  1758 
Fort  Pitt  was  occupied  as  an  English  military  station  and  .the 
site  of  the  present  city  of  Pittsburgh  was  laid  out  and  build- 
ing begun  about  1764,  by  settlers  almost  exclusively  of  English 
descent.  It  is  hardly  probable  that  such  an  important  point  was 
wholly  neglected  by  the  clergy  of  the  Established  Church,  or 
that  so  many  families  of  Church  people  as  then  resided  in  the 
neighborhood  would  have  been  content  to  give  up  entirely  the 
Christian  privileges  to  which  they  had  been  used. 

However  this  may  have  been,  it  is  certain  that  no  definite 
attempt  was  made  to  organize  and  perpetuate  the  Church  of 
England  in  this  part  of  Pennsylvania  before  the  Revolution, 
or  the  Episcopal  Church  after  it,  until  towards  the  closing  years 
of  the  last  century.  Even  the  venerable  "Society  for  the  Pro- 
pagation of  the  Gospel,"  to  which  we  owe  so  largely  the  plant- 
ing and  nurture  of  the  Church  before  the  separation  from  the 
mother  country,  appears  to  have  made  no  efifort  to  care  for  its 
members  in  Western  Pennsylvania.  In  Bishop  Perry's  volum- 
inous collection  of  historical  documents  relating  to  this  time 
and  region  there  are  but  two  incidental  references  to  Fort  Pitt, 
and  they  have  no  connection  with  the  work  of  the  Church. 

(30) 


ElARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA     3T 

The  farthest  station  westward  seems  to  have  been  Carlisle. 

The  timidity  and  inertia  of  the  bishops,  influential  clergy 
and  laity  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state  during  the  fifty  years 
following  the  War  of  Independence  are  notorious,  and  would 
be  surprising  did  we  not  know  the  difficulties  with  which  they 
had  to  contend.  The  popular  prejudices  which  existed  against 
the  clergy,  who  for  the  most  part  had  adhered  to  the  king's 
side  in  the  great  struggle,  extended  to  the  Liturgy,  and  the 
whole  system  of  the  Church  to  which  they  belonged.  The 
Episcopal  Church  was  everywhere  on  the  defensive.  It  was 
considered  essentially  monarchial  and  aristocratic  in  its  spirit 
and  influence;  unsuited  to  the  wants  of  the  people  of  a  Re- 
public. So  strongly  did  this  public  sentiment  afifect  the  rulers 
of  the  Church  that  for  a  long  time  nothing  more  was  done  than 
to  keep  alive  existing  congregations.  The  idea  of  extending  the 
work  of  the  Church  into  new  regions  was  hardly  thought  of. 
Up  to  the  year  1811,  we  are  told  on  good  authority,  that  not 
only  was  there  no  growth  throughout  the  United  States,  but  a 
positive  decrease,  especially  of  clergy,  and  one  of  the  foremost 
of  the  bishops  expressed  the  opinion  that  its  ultimate  extinc- 
tion was  only  a  question  of  time. 

Nevertheless  we  have  unquestionable  proof  that  in  the 
whole  region  west  of  the  mountains  there  was  a  numerous  body 
of  people,  by  birth  and  education  attached  to  the  Church,  who 
would  have  gladly  welcomed  its  services  and  might  easily  have 
been  kept  in  its  communion.  Our  principal  authority  on  this 
point  is  the  Rev.  Joseph  Doddridge,  M.D.  He  was  himself  born 
in  Bedford  County,  Penna.,  within  one  hundred  miles  of  Pitts- 
burgh, in  1769,  and  for  some  time  resided  in  Washington 
County,  in  the  near  neighborhood.  To  him  we  owe  many  in- 
teresting details  of  the  condition  of  things  in  the  Church  about 
the  close  of  the  last  century;  and  it  was  mainly  through  his 
persistent  efforts  that  the  attention  of  Eastern  churchmen  was 
gained  to  the  work  to  be  done  in  this  region.  He  was  himself 
a  clergyman  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  spent  his  life  in 
constant  missionary  labor  in  Western  Virginia  and  Southern 
Ohio.  He  held  the  first  Christian  service  in  Washington,  Penna., 
in  1792.  Some  rowdies  were  hired  by  a  prominent  whiskey 
vender  to  intimidate  the  young  preacher,  and  prevent  his  return 
to  preach  in  the  place.  This  we  are  told  as  a  tradition  in  a 
letter  of  Dr.  Doddridge's  daughter  to  Bishop  Kerfoot  in  1873. 

We  are  indebted  to  the  late  Hon.  Judge  Scott,  of  Chilli- 
cothe,  Ohio,  an  early  and  intimate  friend  of  Dr.  Doddridge, 


^2     EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA 

for  some  reminiscences  of  his  life  and  early  labors  in  the 
ministry. 

Air.  Scott  was  in  his  earlier  years  an  itinerant  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Wesleyan  Society,  and  travelled  extensively  in 
Western  Virginia.  He  says:  "My  acquaintance  with  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Doddridge  commenced  in  1788,  at  the  house  of  the  Rev. 
J.  Jacob,  in  Hampshire  County,  Va.  He  was  in  company  with 
the  Rev.  Francis  Asbury.  At  the  request  of  Rev.  F.  Asbury, 
Dr.  Doddridge  studied  the  German  language,  in  which  he 
acquired  such  proficiency  as  to  be  able  to  address  a  congre- 
gation in  that  language.  In  subsequent  years  he  found  that 
acquisition  very  valuable,  as  a  medium  of  communication  with 
the  German  population  of  the  country.  He  was  held  in  high 
estimation  by  Mr.  Asbury,  and  although  he  was  but  little  more 
than  nineteen  years  of  age,  he  was  a  successful  and  highly 
esteemed  laborer  in  our  Society." 

His  connection  with  this  Society,  however,  was  not  of 
long  continuance.  Being  called  from  his  field  of  labor  to  the 
paternal  mansion  in  1791,  by  the  sudden  death  of  his  father,  in 
consequence  of  which  event,  his  step-mother  and  the  younger 
members  of  the  family  were  placed  in  circumstances  requiring 
for  a  time  his  personal  supervision,  the  youthful  itinerant  felt 
it  to  be  his  duty  to  resign  his  charge,  and  in  conformation  with 
the  last  wish  of  his  deceased  parent,  who  had  appointed  him 
executor  of  his  will — to  apply  himself  to  the  settlement  of  the 
estate.  This  accomplished,  finding  himself  in  possession  of  some 
available  means,  he  resolved  to  qualify  himself  more  thoroughly 
for  the  responsible  calling  he  had  chosen,  by  devoting  some  time 
to  perfecting  his  education;  and  with  this  view,  accompanied 
by  his  brother  Philip,  he  entered  Jefferson  Academy,  at  Canons- 
burg,  Penna.,  they  being  among  the  first  students  at  that  pioneer 
literary  institution,  in  what  was  at  that  period  in  the  Trans- 
Montane  States,  the  "Far  West." 

The  Wesleyans  having  laid  aside  the  Prayer  Book  or  ritual 
designed  to  be  used  on  occasions  of  public  worship  by  the 
founder  of  their  Society  (a  formula  which  Dr.  Doddridge's 
judgment  sanctioned  as  being  beautifully  appropriate  and  highly 
edifying),  he  did  not  therefore  resume  his  connection  with  them 
after  his  return  from  Canonsburg,  but  diligently  applied  him- 
self to  an  examination  of  the  claims  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church,  with  a  view  to  offering  himself  a  candidate  for 
Orders  in  its  ministry.  Having  become  satisfied  during  the 
progress  of  his  investigations,  and  fully  prepared,  he  was,  in 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA     33 

1792,  in  Philadelphia,  admitted  to  the  Order  of  Deacons,  by 
the  Rt.  Rev.  William  White,  and  some  years  later,  in  the  same 
place,  to  the  Order  of  Presbyters,  by  the  same  Reverend  Prelate. 

"During  the  year  1793,"  says  Mr.  Scott,  "I  occasionally 
attended  the  ministrations  of  this  zealous  advocate  of  the  Gospel 
of  Christ,  at  West  Liberty,  which  had  until  recently,  been  the 
seat  of  Justice  for  Ohio  County,  Va.,  and  the  residence  of  many 
respectable  and  influential  families.  At  this  place,  divine  wor- 
ship was  held  in  the  Court  House.  Although  still  quite  a  young 
man.  Dr.  Doddridge  was  an  able  minister  of  the  New  Covenant. 
When  preaching  he  spoke  fluently,  and  there  was  nothing  either 
in  his  manner  or  language  that  savored  of  pedantry  or  rusticity ; 
yet  he  did  not  possess  that  easy,  graceful  action  which  is  often 
met  with  in  speakers  in  every  other  respect  his  inferiors;  but 
this  apparent  defect  was  more  than  compensated  by  the  arrange- 
ment of  his  subject,  the  purity  of  his  style,  the  selection  and 
appropriateness  of  his  figures,  and  the  substance  of  his  dis- 
courses. He  was  always  listened  to  with  pleasure  and  edifica- 
tion, commanding  the  attention  of  his  hearers  not  so  much  by 
brilliant  flights  of  imagination  or  rhetorical  flourishes,  as  by  the 
solidity  of  his  arguments,  and  the  lucid  exhibition  of  the  truths 
which  he  presented  for  their  prayerful  and  deliberate  con- 
sideration." 

The  Rev.  George  Brown,  in  his  "Itinerant  Life,"  says:  "I 
heard  the  first  sermon  ever  preached  in  the  town  of  Steuben- 
ville.  It  was  called  the  'Christening  Sermon,'  and  was  de- 
livered by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Doddridge,  in  an  upper  room  in  the 
old  log  Court  House,  in  1796."  He  held  occasional  services  in 
that  place  until  the  Rev.  Intrepid  Morse  took  charge  of  the 
parish. 

About  the  year  1800,  Dr.  Doddridge  removed  to  Charles- 
town,  now  Wellsburg,  Va.,  and  while  laboring  there,  he  learned 
that  many  families  reared  in  the  Episcopal  Church,  had  set- 
tled west  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  that  they  were  wholly  desti- 
tute of  spiritual  guidance  and  instruction.  To  those  of  them 
within  a  convenient  distance,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  making  fre- 
quent visits,  holding  worship  in  temples  not  made  with  hands, 
but  by  the  great  Architect  of  Nature.  About  this  time  he  formed 
the  nucleus  of  S.  James'  Church,  Cross  Creek,  Ohio,  which 
subsequently  under  his  ministry,  expanded  into  a  flourishing 
parish,  and  is  still  in  existence.  Some  years  later,  he  collected 
congregations  at  St.  Clairsville  and  Morristown,  in  Belmont 
County,  in  both  of  which  churches  were  erected,  and  for  some 


34     EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA 

years  the  prospect  of  permanence  seemed  good.  But  for  want 
of  pastoral  teaching  and  supervision  both  congregations,  since 
Dr.  Doddridge's  death,  have  been  dispersed  and  their  church 
edifices  demoHshed  or  appropriated  to  secular  uses. 

At  Charlestown,  his  place  of  residence,  and  at  Wheeling, 
he  had  large  congregations.  The  latter  kept  together  by 
occasional  visits  and  services  until  a  resident  pastor  could  be 
obtained  for  it,  the  Rev.  John  Armstrong.  In  addition  to  the 
church  in  Charlestown,  S.  John's,  of  which  Dr.  Doddridge  re- 
tained the  pastorate  for  thirty  years,  another  one  called 
S.  Paul's  was  also  formed  in  Brooke  County. 

Speaking  of  his  missionary  labors  in  a  letter  to  Bishop 
Moore,  of  Virgfinia.  in  1819,  he  says:  "With  the  view  to  the  at- 
tainment of  an  Episcopacy  in  this  as  early  as  possible,  I  have 
devoted  much  of  my  clerical  labors  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  under 
the  impression  that  that  object  could  be  more  speedily  accom- 
plished by  the  forming  of  congregations  in  a  State  where  there 
was  no  Bishop,  than  by  doing  the  same  thing  in  the  States  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  in  each  of  which  there  was  a 
Diocesan." 

To  the  doctrines  and  formularies  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  he  was  ardently  attached,  and  although  for  more 
than  twenty-five  years  he  occupied  the  position  of  advance 
guard  in  the  minority,  yet  he  faltered  not  in  his  labors,  but 
untiringly  devoted  himself  to  promote  its  growth  and  pros- 
perity, and  also  to  awaken  a  practical  interest  in  the  Eastern 
Dioceses,  by  frequest  and  earnest  appeals  to  their  bishops  and 
clergy,  in  behalf  of  the  scattered  members  of  the  fold,  who  in 
the  vast  regions  of  the  West  were  wandering  as  sheep  without 
a  shepherd. 

At  the  time  when  Dr.  Doddridge  took  Orders  in  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  he  resided  in  Pennsylvania,  but  some  years  subse- 
quent to  that  event,  as  previously  stated,  he  removed  to  Vir- 
ginia. Owing,  however,  to  the  distance  of  his  residence  from 
the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese,  and  the  great  difficulty,  at  that  early 
period,  of  holding  correspondence  with  him,  with  the  consent 
of  Bishop  White,  he  continued  in  fact,  although  not  canonically, 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  latter,  and  accordingly  during 
many  years  all  his  communications  relative  to  the  Church  were 
made  to  him. 

His  correspondence  with  his  clerical  brethren  was  exten- 
sive, and  we  regret  that  our  limits  will  admit  so  small  a  por- 
tion of  it.    The  following  letters  to  Bishop  White  and  Bishop 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA     35 

Hobart  are  lengthy  ones,  and  of  later  date  than  we  have  now 
reached,  but  as  they  contain  a  recapitulation  of  events  that  had 
transpired  relative  to  Church  matters  in  the  West,  during  the 
preceding  fifteen  years,  they  are  appropriate  at  this  point  and 
we  prefer  quoting  from  the  documents  rather  than  to  give  their 
substance  in  our  own  words. 


Letter  from  Dr.  Doddridge  to  Bishop  Hobart. 

December,  1816. 
Right  Reverend  Brother: 

The  situation  and  wishes  of  your  Episcopalian  brethren 
in  this  country  have  no  doubt  reached  you  through  various 
channels  ere  this,  some  time  past. 

Some  five  or  six  years  ago.  in  1810,  the  few  Clergymen  in 
the  western  part  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  held  a  meeting 
relative  to  Church  matters  among  us,  in  which  it  was  resolved 
that  I  should  open  a  correspondence  with  Bishop  White  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining,  through  him,  permission  from  the 
General  Convention  to  form  ourselves  into  a  Convention  in  the 
Western  Country.  I  did  it  accordingly,  and  accompanied  the 
request  with  as  full  a  statement  as  I  could  make  at  that  time 
concerning  our  congregations  and  prospects  here. 

Eighteen  months  elapsed  before  I  heard  of  the  fate  of  our 
petition,  and  that  the  project  had  been  laid  aside  on  account  of 
the  death  of  Bishop  Madison.  (March  6,  1812.)  I  then  lost  all 
hope  of  ever  witnessing  any  prosperity  in  our  Church  in  this 
part  of  America.  Everything  fell  into  a  state  of  languor.  The 
Vestries  were  not  re-elected ;  our  young  people  joined  other 
societies.  Could  I  prevent  this  when  I  indulged  no  hope  of  a 
successor  in  the  ministry?  When  I  had  no  expectation  that 
even  my  own  remains  after  death  would  be  committed  to  the 
grave  with  the  funeral  services  of  my  Church?  The  circum- 
stances of  my  residence  being  at  some  distance  from  those 
of  my  brethren  in  the  Ministry,  and  of  my  being  the  junior 
in  years  among  them,  brought  this  melancholy  prospect  more 
frequently  before  my  mind.  I  resolved,  however,  that  I  would 
not  desert  my  post  of  duty,  and  with  God's  help,  I  will  not. 
How  often  did  I  reflect  with  feelings  of  the  deepest  regret  and 
sorrow,  that  if  anything  like  an  equal  number  of  professors 
of  any  other  Christian  community  had  been  placed  in  Siberia 
or  India,  and  equally  dependent  upon  a  supreme  ecclesiastical 
authority  in  this  country,  that  they  would  not  have  been  so 
neglected,  that  a  request  so  reasonable  would  have  met  with 
prompt  and  cheerful  compliance !    With  the  voice  of  the  first 


36     EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA 

missionary  in  the  western  part  of  Pennsylvania  my  hope  began 
to  revive.  When  I  heard  the  "glad  tidings"  of  the  good  and 
great  work  among  the  Episcopalians  in  the  Eastern  States,  I 
also  heard  of  the  zeal  and  activity  of  Bishops  White  and  Hobart 
in  their  respective  Episcopates. 

I  resolved  through  divine  assistance  that  another  effort 
should  be  made  amongst  us  to  raise  and  build  up  our  fallen 
Zion.  With  a  view  of  ascertaining  the  practicability  of  planting 
Churches  to  the  "Westward,"  in  the  fall  of  1815,  I  made  a  rnis- 
sionary  excursion  in  Ohio,  as  far  as  Chillicothe,  performing 
divine  service  in  all  the  intermediate  towns.  I  found  skeletons 
of  congregations  in  almost  every  place.  In  the  past  summer  the 
Rev,  Mr.  Kilbourne  called  at  my  house  on  his  return  from  the 
Eastward,  and  related  a  conversation  which  he  said  he  had 
had  with  you  on  ecclesiastical  affairs,  informing  me  that  you 
advised  the  immediate  call  of  a  Convention  of  all  our  Clergy- 
men, and  the  election  of  one  of  them  for  Bishop ;  and  that  the 
General  Convention  would  certainly  confirm  our  action  and  con- 
secrate the  Bishop  elect.  He  proposed  his  residence,  Worth- 
ington,  as  the  place  of  holding  the  Convention.  This  I  reluct- 
antly acceded  to,  although  I  knew  that  place  to  be  improperly 
chosen,  being  so  far  from  our  three  Presbyters  in  the  western 
part  of  Pennsylvania,  who  are  all  too  advanced  in  years  to 
undertake  so  long  a  journey.  Accordingly  they  did  not  attend, 
but  wrote  us  their  acquiescence  in  any  measures  we  might  think 
proper  to  adopt,  two  of  them  going  so  far  as  to  name  their 
choice  for  Bishop.  The  result  of  this  meeting  may  be  seen 
in  the  circular  and  copy  of  petition  which  accompany  this.  On 
many  accounts  I  thought  any  attempt  to  elect  a  Bishop  would 
be  premature.  Our  people,  although  anxious,  were  by  no  means 
prepared  for  the  event.  These  papers,  however,  have  had  a 
good  effect ;  they  have  turned  the  attention  of  the  laity  to  the 
subjects  of  a  western  convention  and  a  Bishop.  Since  then,  sev- 
eral new  congregations  have  been  formed,  of  which  I  am  at 
present  the  pastor,  viz. :  one  at  Zanesville,  formed  in  October, 
1810;  one  at  St.  Clairsville,  one  in  Jefferson  County,  Ohio,  in 
1802;  S.  James',  on  Cross  Creek,  and  several  more,  I  hope, 
will  shortly  be  formed  in  Ohio.  These,  in  addition  to  the  con- 
gregations which  I  have  in  Virginia,  make  me  the  pastor  of  six 
congregations  at  the  present  time ;  and  in  the  course  of  next 
spring  two  more,  I  trust,  will  be  organized.  In  some  of  the 
places  my  absence  is  supplied  by  a  Lay  Reader,  who  performs 
divine  service  every  Sunday.  There  are,  I  think,  three  congre- 
gations in  and  about  Worthington,  Ohio.  How  many  there  are 
at  present  in  the  western  part  of  Pennsylvania  I  have  not  been 
informed.  I  think  it  probable  that  by  the  time  of  the  sessions 
of  the  General   Convention   the  whole  number  of  our  con- 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA     37 

gregations  in  the  country  will  exceed  twenty.  The  number  of 
our  Priests  within  my  knowledge  is  four,  that  of  Deacons 
two.     . 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  state  such  facts  with  regard  to  the 
religious  and  moral  character  of  the  people  of  the  Western 
States  generally,  as  may  enable  you  to  judge  whether  any 
attempts  to  build  up  our  fallen  Zion  here  have  probable  chance 
of  success. 

It  must  be  well  known  to  you  that  the  States  of  Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  the  Territories  of  Mississippi  and  Illinois,  the  State 
of  Indiana,  as  well  as  some  large  districts  in  the  State  of  Ohio, 
have  been  settled  by  emigration  for  the  most  part  from  Mary- 
land and  Virginia,  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia.  Most,  if  not  all 
of  these  states,  were  before  the  Revolution,  Crown  States,  and 
their  inhabitants  members  of  the  established  Church.  The 
western  part  of  Virginia  has  received  the  population  from  the 
same  source.  The  people  still  retain  many  of  the  distinguish- 
ing features  of  the  general  characteristics  of  their  forefathers, 
the  Royalists  of  the  reigns  of  Kings  Charles  I.  and  II.  Among 
these  traits  of  character  is  that  of  a  strong  dislike  to  Puritanism, 
and  this  is  one  that  still  exists  among  them  in  considerable  force. 
No  great  number  of  them  have  ever  united  with  the  Presby- 
terians. You  may  have  supposed  from  the  pompous  reports 
which  have  appeared  from  time  to  time  concerning  the  progress 
of  the  Presbyterians,  Methodists  and  Anabaptists  in  the 
western  countries,  that  they  had  long  before  now  swallowed  up 
almost  all  the  population  of  this  country.  Not  so,  for  with  the 
exception  of  the  western  part  of  Pennsylvania,  go  where  you 
will,  you  will  find  from  one-third  to  one-half  the  population  of 
the  towns  and  villages  and  their  neighborhoods  of  no  religious 
profession  whatever.  Ask  them  concerning  the  religion  of  their 
forefathers.  They  all  answer,  they  were  Church  people.  Many 
of  these  people  still  retain  an  old  Prayer  Book  as  a  venerable 
relic  of  antiquity.  They  still  have  a  reverence  for  Baptism  and 
the  Lord's  Day.  The  Church,  they  say,  was  once  pure  and  good, 
but  now  it  is  fallen,  and  they  fear  will  never  be  revived  again. 

About  fifteen  years  ago  the  "Age  of  Reason"  of  Thomas 
Paine  took  a  rapid  and  extensive  circulation  through  this 
country,  and  I  regret  to  say  that  these  people  were  very  exten- 
sively the  dupes  of  that  infamous  work.  This  infidelity  is  fast 
wearing  away,  and  they  begin  to  feel,  I  trust  I  may  say,  in 
common  with  more  than  half  the  world,  the  necessity  of  piety  to 
God.  My  experience  warrants  me  in  saying  that  an  Episco- 
palian missionary  will  not  have  to  encounter  the  difficulties  in- 
cident to  the  propagation  of  a  new  religion.  No,  he  will  every- 
where find  the  skeletons  of  congregations  and  strong  predilec- 
tion in  his  favor.    I  will  give  you  two  examples  which  go  to 


38     EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA 

show  what  can  be  done  for  our  Church  in  this  country.  The 
first  is  Zanesville.  I  visited  this  place  in  the  fall  of  1815  on  my 
way  to  Chillicothe,  and  held  service  on  a  week-day.  On  my 
return  I  held  service  on  Sunday.  They  then  reported  to  me 
about  forty  persons  who  were  all  of  our  Church.  In  October, 
1816,  on  my  way  to  Worthington.  to  attend  the  Convention 
previously  mentioned,  they  formed  themselves  into  a  congrega- 
tion, and  appointed  Dr.  H.  Reed  as  delegate.  On  my  return  I 
officiated  on  Sunday,  and  administered  the  Sacrament.  From 
the  list  of  names  attached  to  the  petition  which  they  have  sent 
me,  it  appears  that  their  congregation  is  already  large,  wealthy 
and  respectable,  and  they  talk  of  building  a  Church  next  sum- 
mer. The  next  is  St.  Clairsville,  formed  in  1813.  For  three 
years  past  I  have  visited  this  place  two  or  three  times  a  year  on 
account  of  a  few  Episcopalian  families  of  my  particular 
acquaintance.  Since  the  meeting  at  Worthington,  they  have 
formed  themselves  into  a  congregation,  which  at  present  con- 
sists of  fifty  families,  and  the  warden  who  took  the  signatures 
to  the  petition  informed  me  that  they  will,  in  a  short  time,  be 
joined  by  as  many  more.  At  Morristown,  ten  miles  from  the 
above  place,  there  will  shortly  be  a  congregation  of  at  least 
fifty.  In  all  of  these  places  a  short  time  ago,  the  name  of  an 
Episcopalian  was  scarcely  mentioned.  In  how  many  places 
might  the  same  thing  be  done  if  we  had  laborers  for  the  work! 
I  shall  now  state  the  measures  which  appear  to  me  necessary  for 
the  creation  of  Episcopal  Churches  in  this  country. 

The  first  is  a  Convention,  for  the  reasons  stated  in  the 
accompanying  circular.  Alas !  my  brother,  how  little  reason  has 
the  Bishop  of  Virginia  to  regret  a  concurrence  in  this  measure, 
when  I  am  under  the  painful  necessity  of  stating  that  I  am  the 
only  Episcopal  Clerg>'man  in  the  western  part  of  Virginia, 
where  by  this  time  there  ought  to  have  been  at  least  forty!  If 
the  whole  western  part  of  the  state  should  be  thought  too  much, 
the  counties  of  Brook,  Monongahela,  Harrison,  Randolph,  Ohio 
and  Tyler  will  be  sufficient.  In  this  cession  he  will  lose  but  one 
Clergyman. 

The  next  is  a  Bishop.  The  very  idea  of  a  Bishop  several 
hundred  miles  from  his  flocks  is  discouraging  in  the  extreme. 
The  Methodist  Bishops  have  been  frequently  through  this 
country,  and  even  the  Catholics,  though  few  in  number,  have 
been  comforted  by  the  presence  and  services  of  their  Episcopal 
Pastor.  No  such  event  has  happened  to  us.  For  many  great 
and  important  purposes  well  known  to  you,  the  holy  Episcopal 
office,  to  be  serviceable,  should  be  at  hand.  Our  people  here 
wish  and  pray  for  this,  and  I  trust  we  are  worthy  of  an  Epis- 
copate among  ourselves.  It  must  not  be  made  by  a  number  of 
Presbyters  less  than  six.  Might  not  deacons  be  allowed  to  vote? 
Might  not  a  lay  delegate  from  each  organized  congregation  be 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA     39 

allowed  to  participate  in  the  important  decision?  If  allowable 
in  any  case,  it  would  be  highly  acceptable  here.  As  we  have 
material  for  forming  congregations  here,  so  I  trust  there  are 
some  for  the  Ministry.  The  clerical  profession  is  becoming 
reputable  in  this  country.  Some  physicians  and  lawyers  have 
expressed  a  desire  to  take  orders  in  the  Church.  Could  it  be 
done  with  convenience?  When  I  reflect  upon  the  little  which 
has  been  done  for  the  promotion  of  our  Church  in  this  exten- 
sive region,  I  feel  abased.  If  I  should  say  that  there  are  at 
present  half  a  million  of  Episcopalians  and  their  descendants  in 
the  western  country,  including  the  whole  of  Western  Virginia. 
I  verily  believe  that  I  should  not  be  justly  chargeable  with 
exaggeration.  What  has  been  done  for  the  spiritual  interests  of 
these  people?  Almost  nothing  at  all.  Had  we  imitated  at  an 
early  period  the  example  of  other  societies,  employed  the  same 
means  for  collecting  our  people  into  societies,  and  building 
Churches,  and  with  the  same  zeal,  we  should  have  had  by  this 
time  four  or  five  Bishops,  surrounded  by  a  numerous  and  re- 
spectable body  of  Clergy,  instead  of  having  our  very  names 
connected  with  a  fallen  Church.  Instead  of  offering  a  rich 
and  extensive  plunder  to  every  sectarian  missionary,  we  should 
have  occupied  the  first  and  highest  station  among  the  Christian 
Societies  of  the  West.  Ought  we  not  to  hasten  to  gather  those 
still  within  our  reach?  Yes,  they  wish,  they  pray,  for  our 
Bishop.  Oh !  let  that  assistance  which  they  consider  so  neces- 
sary for  their  eternal  welfare  be  no  longer  withheld!  In  the 
course  of  next  spring,  1817,  I  shall  send  a  file  of  petitions,  with 
a  detailed  report  of  each  place  and  congregation  from  which 
they  come,  to  Bishop  White,  who  will  commit  them  to  the  hands 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  General  Convention. 

I  humbly  hope.  Right  Reverend  Brother,  that  you  will 
freely  and  speedily  communicate  to  me  your  remarks  on  our 
proceedings  in  this  very  interesting  and  important  business.  If 
in  anything  we  have  done  amiss  or  omitted  anything  we  ought 
to  have  done,  let  us  know  it. 

Your  brother  in  Christ, 

Joseph  Doddridge. 


Letter  from  Dr.  Doddridge  to  Bishop  White. 

Wellsburg,  December  14,  1818. 
Right  Reverend  and  Dear  Brother: 

Yours  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Johnson  came  duly  to  hand.  Its 
contents  gave  me  no  small  degree  of  grief,  but  the  arrival  of 
Mr.  Chase,  which  took  place  soon  after  the  receipt  of  your 


40     EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA 

letter,  dissipated  the  uneasiness  occasioned  by  the  prospect  of  a 
failure  in  our  endeavor  to  attain  an  Episcopacy  in  this  country, 
a  majority  of  the  Committees  having  signed  the  requisite  tes- 
timonials. Thus  an  event  which  ought  to  have  taken  place  many 
years  ago  is  likely  to  take  place  at  last. 

The  contents  of  your  letter  seem  to  require  from  me  a 
frank  and  candid  statement  of  my  views  in  doing  what  I  have 
done  for  the  benefit  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  this  country, 
together  with  the  treatment  I  have  received  from  my  clerical 
brethren  from  first  to  last. 

Considering  the  Christian  religion  as  the  basis  of  all  that 
is  good  and  great  among  men,  I  sincerely  wished  for  its  promo- 
tion in  that  profession  whose  doctrines  appeared  to  me  truly 
evangelical,  and  whose  forms  of  worship  unite  piety,  morality 
and  edification  in  the  most  effectual  manner,  and  on  the  broadest 
basis.  Such  was  and  still  is  my  view  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church. 

I  trust  I  possess  all  the  Christian  charity  which  is  due  from 
me  to  the  religious  societies  of  this  country,  and  I  am  free 
to  say  that  much  is  due  to  them  for  the  zeal  and  steadiness  with 
which  they  have  prosecuted  their  pious  labors.  To  the  Presby- 
terians alone  we  are  indebted  for  almost  the  whole  stock  of 
the  literature  of  our  country.  They  began  their  labors  at  an  early 
period  of  the  settlement  of  the  country,,  and  have  extended 
their  ecclesiastical  educational  establishments  so  as  to  keep 
pace  with  the  extension  of  our  population,  with  a  godly  care 
and  diligence  which  do  them  honor.  Before  they  were  able  to 
build  even  their  log  meeting-houses,  they  officiated  in  tents  in 
the  woods,  with  the  little  contributions  their  poor  people  were 
able  to  give  they  built  academies,  some  of  which  are  now 
colleges. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Clergy,  without  making  any  ostenta- 
tious parade,  are  traversing  every  part  of  the  country  in  search 
of  their  scattered  flock,  and  carrying  the  ministry  to  almost 
every  family  of  their  people.  I  am  informed  that  they  have 
already  two  colleges  in  Kentucky,  a  Bishop  in  the  state,  and 
another  in  Louisiana.  At  David's  Town,  in  Kentucky,  they  are 
building  a  large  Cathedral.  Whether  this  statement  as  it  re- 
spects the  colleges  and  Bishop  is  correct,  I  am  not  able  to  say, 
but  presume  it  is. 

Were  it  not  for  the  Herculean  labors  of  the  Methodist 
Society,  many  of  our  remote  settlements  would  have  been 
at  this  time  almost  in  a  state  of  barbarism.  The  cabins  of  our 
settlements  were  scarcely  built  and  the  little  fields  scarcely 
enclosed,  before  the  missionaries  of  this  society  appeared  among 
them,  formed  them  into  societies,  and  taught  them  the  prin- 
ciples and  duties  of  our  holy  religion. 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CTIURCH   IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA     4I 

There  is  scarcely  a  single  settlement  in  the  whole  extent 
of  our  western  country  which  has  not  been  blessed  with  the 
ministry  of  this  people,  and  to  this  ministry  the  public  morality 
and  piety  are  immensely  indebted. 

With  the  Anabaptists  I  have  little  acquaintance,  but  I  have 
been  informed  that  many  of  their  establishments  are  respectable. 
The  settlements  and  meeting-houses  of  the  Friends  in  the  State 
of  Ohio  are  numerous  and  in  a  flourishing  condition. 

All  these  communities,  as  to  everything  belonging  to 
Apostolic  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  the  world,  have  certainly 
gone  far  beyond  ourselves.  They  have  not  waited  for  a  request 
from  their  people  for  spiritual  help,  but  have  gone  into  "hedges 
and  highways,"  or  to  use  a  more  appropriate  phraseology,  into 
the  "brush  and  woods"  to  seek  for  them;  and  their  arduous 
labors  have,  for  the  most  part,  been  marked  with  a  degree  of 
disinterestedness  which  entitles  their  Clergy  to  highest  credit. 

I  feel  a  reluctance  to  finding  fault  with  religious  societies 
so  commendable  for  zeal,  and  so  abundant  in  labors  for  good, 
but  the  doctrinal  points  of  difference  between  the  Calvinist  and 
the  Episcopalian  are  so  important  in  the  view  of  a  great  number 
of  both  communities,  that  they  are  not  likely  ever  to  get  rid 
of  the  ancient  prejudices  of  the  Churchman  and  the  Puritan 
against  each  other.  At  any  rate,  it  has  so  happened  in  this 
country,  for  notwithstanding  the  destitute  condition  of  our 
Church  here,  very  few  of  her  members  have  attached  them- 
selves to  any  description  of  Presbyterians. 

It  is  a  subject  of  great  regret  that  the  Calvinists  in  this 
country  are  cleft  into  so  many  divisions,  and  that  they  are  so 
much  the  Jews  and  Samaritans  to  each  other.  These  divisions 
and  contentions  are  reproaches  to  the  Reformation,  the  scoff 
of  Catholics  and  unbelievers.  How  much  is  the  value  of  their 
public  profession  of  religion  lessened  by  the  apparent  want 
of  that  charity  which  the  Saviour  of  men  so  strongly  points 
out  as  one  of  the  distinguishing  features  of  the  divine  character. 

I  formerly  indulged  the  hope  that  the  Methodist  Society 
would,  sooner  or  later,  in  obedience  to  the  order  of  their 
spiritual  father,  John  Wesley,  adopt  the  use  of  the  service  book 
which  he  gave  them,  and  that  with  the  increase  of  their  numbers 
and  wealth,  they  would  found  literary  establishments  in  this 
country,  so  as  to  associate  science  with  their  public  ministry  of 
the  Gospel. 

One  serious  objection,  in  my  opinion,  applies  to  all  the  re- 
ligious professions  of  this  country,  I  mean  the  want  of  estab- 
lished forms  of  worship.  My  zeal  for  their  introduction  will 
not  be  considered  as  a  zeal  without  knowledge,  when  it  is 
remembered  that,  until  the  Reformation,  the  Christian  world 
knew  no  other,  and  that  even  the  present  exceptions  to  the 


42     EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA 

general  practice  on  this  subject  are  on  a  very  limited  scale.  The 
public  reading  of  the  Holy  Scripture  and  the  participation  of 
the  people  in  the  public  offices  of  devotion  are  certainly  matters 
of  the  highest  importance  to  the  edification,  faith  and  piety 
of  all. 

The  confidence  which  I  have  in  the  Apostolic  Succession, 
renders  the  lay  ordinations  of  this  country  less  sacred  and  re- 
spectable in  my  view.  To  a  very  considerable  extent  the  aspect 
of  the  religious  profession  as  to  its  intrinsic  character  is  by 
no  means  such  as  I  think  it  ought  to  be.  It  is  not  the  pro- 
fession of  the  steady  exercise  of  faith,  hope  and  charity,  exem- 
plified by  a  constant  succession  of  good  deeds ;  but  that  of  a 
certain  routine  of  supernatural  feelings  in  which  science,  faith 
and  moral  virtue  have  little  to  do. 

Private  instruction  and,  as  I  fear,  private  devotions  also, 
have  been  partially  laid  aside  for  the  public  profession,  and 
the  exhibition  of  enthusiastic  raptures,  which  certainly  have 
for  their  ultimate  object  the  making  of  proselytes.  Alas,  even 
among  the  various  societies  of  Presbyterians,  the  catechist  and 
the  catechumen  are  less  and  less  frequently  mentioned.  The 
holy  ordinance  of  Baptism,  once  so  sacred,  is  duly  admin- 
istered, but  little  or  no  importance  is  attached  to  it.  To  a  great 
extent  a  profession  of  supernatural  feelings,  and  those  too 
of  a  particular  stamp  and  configuration,  in  conformity  to  the 
respective  models  furnished  by  different  societies,  constitute  the 
larger  amount  of  the  claim  of  the  applicant  to  Church  member- 
ship and  the  ministry.  What  a  misfortune  that  a  test  purport- 
ing to  be  of  so  much  importance,  and  yet  so  equivocal  and 
delusive,  and  so  favorable  to  hypocrisy,  should  have  been  so 
extensively  adopted  by  societies  in  which  there  is  certainly  much 
of  real  piety. 

As  a  patriot  as  well  as  an  Episcopalian.  I  wished  for  that 
system  of  Christian  doctrine,  those  forms  of  worship,  and  that 
form  of  Ecclesiastical  Government,  which  bear  the  stamp  of 
the  Primitive  Ages,  and  which  are.  of  course,  best  for  this 
world  as  well  as  the  next.  For  the  spiritual  benefit  of  many 
thousands  of  our  Israel,  I  was  anxious  for  an  Ecclesiastical 
Government  in  this  country  at  an  early  period. 

All  my  endeavors  to  attain  these  objects  were  unsuccess- 
ful. From  year  to  year  I  had  the  mortification  to  witness  the 
immense  plunder  of  our  people  to  increase  the  numbers  and 
build  the  Churches  of  societies  in  my  view  less  valuable  than 
their  own.  How  often  have  the  people  said  to  me  in  the  bitter- 
ness of  their  hearts,  "Must  we  live  and  die  without  Baptism 
for  our  children,  and  without  the  Sacrament  for  ourselves?" 

The  great  States  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  have  been 
settled  for  the  most  part  by  descendants  of  members  of  the 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA     43 

Church  of  England.  Not  one  in  a  hundred  of  these  people  have 
to  this  day  ever  heard  the  voice  of  a  Clergyman  of  their  own 
Church,  but  they  have  those  of  all  other  denominations.  Hence 
the  greater  part  of  them  are  lost  to  us  forever. 

The  course  I  have  pursued  for  the  attainment  of  an  Epis- 
copacy in  this  country  is  partially  known  to  you.  The  negligence 
to  which  I  have  referred — and  alluded  to  in  your  letter — shall 
be  frankly  but  briefly  stated.  In  relation  to  myself  personally, 
it  is  unimportant.  In  proportion  as  it  has  borne  the  aspect  of 
indifference  on  the  part  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church  to  the 
spiritual  needs  of  our  people  in  these  immense  regions,  it  has 
been  a  fruitful  source  of  mortification  and  regret  to  me. 

When  in  1810,  the  few  Episcopal  Clergymen  in  this  country 
held  a  meeting  and  resolved  that  I  should  open  a  correspond- 
ence with  you  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  from  the  General 
Convention  permission  to  resolve  ourselves  into  a  Convention 
with  a  view  to  forming  a  separate  Diocese  in  the  Western 
Country,  I  did  so,  accompanying  the  request  with  as  full  a  state- 
ment as  I  could  make  out  at  the  time,  of  our  congregations  and 
prospects  here ;  and  we  confidently  expected  that,  as  our  local 
situation  so  evidently  demanded  the  arrangement,  it  would  be 
made. 

We  received  no  information  respecting  the  fate  of  our  peti- 
tion, until  the  summer  of  1812,  when  we  learned  unofficially, 
that  the  project  had  been  laid  aside  in  consequence  of  the  death 
of  Bishop  Madison. 

This  issue  of  the  business  blasted  our  hopes.  From  that 
time  our  intercourse  with  each  other  became  less  frequent  than 
it  had  ever  been  before ;  our  ecclesiastical  affairs  fell  into  a  state 
of  languor,  and  one  of  our  Clergymen,  wearied  with  disappoint- 
ment, and  seeing  no  prospect  of  any  event  favorable  to  the 
prosperity  of  our  Church,  withdrew  from  the  Ministry. 

I  kept  my  station,  cheerless  as  it  was,  without  hope  of  doing 
anything  beyond  keeping  my  parishioners  together,  during  my 
lifetime,  after  which,  I  supposed,  they  must  attach  themselves 
to  such  societies  as  they  might  think  best. 

Such  was  the  gloomy  prospect  before  me.  How  often  dur- 
ing hopeless  years  of  discouragement,  have  I  said  to  myself, 
Is  there  not  a  single  clergyman  of  my  Church,  of  a  zealous 
and  faithful  spirit,  who  would  accept  the  office  of  a  Chor- 
Episcopus  for  my  country,  and  find  his  reward  in  the  exalted 
pleasure  of  an  approving  conscience  in  gathering  in  the  lost 
sheep  of  our  Israel,  and  planting  Churches  in  this  new  world? 
Is  there  not  one  of  our  Bishops  possessed  of  sufficient  zeal  and 
hardihood  to  induce  him  to  cross  the  Alleghenies  and  engage 
in  this  great  and  good  work?  Year  after  year  answered  these 
questions  in  the  negative. 


44     EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA 

You  may  imagine  how  strange  it  appeared  to  me  to  see  the 
annual  statements  of  the  contributions  of  my  Atlantic  brethren 
to  Bible  Societies  and  other  institutions  for  propagating  the 
Gospel  in  foreign  lands,  while  no  concern  was  evinced,  or  meas- 
ures adopted  for  the  relief  of  their  own  people,  in  their  own 
country,  who  were  perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge. 

Meanwhile  other  denominations  here  were  blessed  with 
the  presence  of  their  Episcopal  Fathers,  while  to  this  day, 
this  country  has  never  been  favored  with  the  presence  of  a 
Bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

We  claim,  and-as  I  trust,  justly,  the  Apostolic  Succession; 
but  where,  I  ask,  is  our  Apostolic  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  man- 
kind? While  the  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  for  the  Societe 
de  Propaganda,  as  well  as  those  of  other  societies,  are  travers- 
ing the  most  inhospitable  climes,  encountering  every  difficulty, 
privation  and  danger,  for  the  laudable  purpose  of  making  con- 
verts to  the  Christian  Faith,  will  the  spiritual  Fathers  of  our 
Church  never  leave  the  temples  erected  by  the  piety  of  their 
forefathers  to  visit  and  minister  to  their  destitute  people,  even 
in  their  own  country? 

When  about  three  years  ago  I  heard  some  favorable  reports 
concerning  the  prospects  and  extension  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  Eastern  states,  I  resolved,  through  Divine  assistance,  to 
make  one  more  effort  to  raise  and  build  up  our  fallen  Zion 
among  us,  and  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  the  practicability  of 
planting  Churches  in  the  westward,  in  the  autumn  of  1815,  I 
made  a  missionary  tour  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  going  as  far 
southwest  as  Chillicothe,  where  I  held  services  and  preached 
twice;  I  also  officiated  in  all  the  intermediate  towns  between 
Chillicothe  and  my  place  of  residence,  both  going  and  returning. 
The  prospect  which  this  missionary  excursion  presented  was  not 
discouraging;  in  almost  every  place  I  found  the  skeleton  of  an 
Episcopal  congregation. 

The  year  following,  in  accordance  with  an  agreement  with 
the  Rev.  James  Kilbourn,  made  at  my  home  some  weeks 
previous,  I  went  to  Worthington,  Ohio,  his  place  of  residence, 
to  attend  a  Convention  of  Episcopalians  appointed  in  that  place, 
to  confer  on  the  interests  of  the  Church.  The  proceedings  of 
our  meeting  on  that  occasion  are  well  known  to  you.  The  com- 
munication which  I  made  to  yourself  and  Bishop  Hobart  con- 
cerning them  met  with  no  response.  During  the  tour  I  officiated 
eighteen  times. 

Last  week  I  made  a  missionary  excursion  of  six  days,  in 
the  southern  part  of  Belmont  and  Munroe  Counties,  Ohio, 
during  which  I  held  divine  service  seven  times,  forming  one 
congregation  in  the  latter  county,  and  baptized  thirty  children. 
I  was  told  that  had  not  a  mistake  occurred  in  the  appointment 
the  baptisms  would  have  exceeded  one  hundred. 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH   IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA     45 

Many  of  the  people  had  been  my  parishioners  previously 
to  removing  to  their  present  locality,  and  with  their  neighbors 
had  delayed  the  baptism  of  their  children  twelve  years,  in  the 
hope  of  having  that  holy  rite  administered  by  a  minister  of 
their  own  Church.  This  circumstance  affected  me  painfully. 
Your  brother  in  Christ, 

Joseph  Doddridge. 

When  at  length  after  years  of  inaction  and  neglect  the 
effort  was  made  to  organize  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  these  parts,  the  work  was  far  more  difficult  than  it  would 
have  been  had  Dr.  Doddridge's  plea  been  listened  to.  A  great 
opportunity  had  been  lost  and  did  not  return.  Not  only  were 
the  "thousands  of  its  members'  which  Dr.  Doddridge  assures 
us  then  lived  in  this  region,  alienated  from  it,  but  a  change 
had  taken  place  in  the  character  of  the  immigration  to  this 
Western  Country.  The  early  settlers  at  Pittsburgh  and  its 
vicinity  were,  as  has  been  mentioned,  very  largely  members  of 
the  Episcopal  Church.  But  in  after  years  there  came  that 
influx  of  hardy,  thrifty  Scotch-Irish  people,  who  in  a  short 
time  became  the  dominant  element  throughout  Western  Penn- 
sylvania. They  brought  with  them  not  only  their  energy  and 
thrift,  but  a  sturdy  aggressive  Presbyterianism  which  was 
intolerant  towards  Episcopal  Government  and  Ritual  Worship. 
In  their  eyes  such  things  were  but  little  removed  from  popery 
itself.  They  very  soon  covered  the  ground  left  vacant  by  the 
Church,  and  made  all  subsequent  efforts  to  regain  what  had 
been  lost  far  more  difficult. 

Under  such  adverse  circumstances  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  we  find  no  organization  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
Western  Pennsylvania  until  the  year  1790;  and  it  is  significant 
that  this  was  made  not  at  Pittsburgh  where  we  would  naturally 
look  for  it,  but  among  a  rural  population,  such  as  Dr.  Dodd- 
ridge describes  in  his  letters  as  everywhere  asking  for  the 
services  of  our  Church.  The  first  congregation  established  was 
in  Chartiers  Township,  about  six  miles  from  the  city,  under  the 
name  of  St.  Luke's  Church.  The  record  reads.  "The  first  Epis- 
copal Church  west  of  the  mountains  was  organized,  and  the 
Church  built  by  several  persons,  viz. :  General  Johnson  Neville, 
his  son,  Pressley  Neville ;  Major  Isaac  Craig  and  others.  The 
lot,  ten  perches  square,  was  given  by  William  Lea,  for  a  site 
and  graveyard."  The  church  building  was  begun  in  1790.  and 
furnished  in  the  following  year,  but  not  entirely  finished  until 


46     EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA 

some  time  afterward.  By  whom  the  services  were  given  or 
who  had  charge  of  the  flock  is  not  mentioned.  But  we  learn 
that  "Mr.  Francis  Reno  was  taken  under  the  care  of  Mr. 
Neville  and  educated  and  prepared  for  the  ministry  of  the 
Church."  In  due  time  he  was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  called  to  the  rectorship  of  the  church  at 
Chartiers.  "He  officiated  there  for  some  years  until  an  insur- 
rection (the  Whiskey  Insurrection  of  1794)  disturbed  the 
public  peace  and  drove  the  supporters  of  the  Church  from  the 
locality."  Sometime  afterward  we  find  that  Mr.  Reno  was 
engaged  to  officiate  alternately  at  Chartiers  and  Pittsburgh,  but 
soon  left  the  neighborhood.  The  church  appears  to  have  been 
closed,  and  being  built  of  wood,  soon  fell  into  decay,  and 
almost  every  trace  of  the  building  was  removed.  The  record 
goes  on  to  state  that  no  decided  step  was  taken  to  rebuild  the 
church  until  1851.  However  this  may  be,  the  insurrection 
could  not  have  completely  discouraged  the  congregation,  for 
we  find  in  Dr.  Doddridge's  Memoirs  a  report  of  "a  Conven- 
tion of  four  clergymen  held  at  S.  Thomas'  Church,  Washing- 
ton County,  Pennsylvania.  September  35,  1803,"  Mr.  Reno  be- 
ing one  of  them,  at  which  it  was  resolved  that  the  next  Con- 
vention be  held  at  the  church  near  General  Neville's  old  place 
on  Chartier's  Creek,  Penna.,  to  commence  the  Saturday  before 
Whitsun  Day. 

In  the  year  1851,  through  the  efforts  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Lyman,  then  Rector  of  Trinity  Church,  Pittsburgh,  a  new 
church  was  begun  on  the  site  of  the  old  one,  and  regular 
services  resumed.  From  that  time  until  1871  the  church  was 
kept  open  and  the  congregation  held  together  by  various  rec- 
tors who  seem  never  to  have  remained  for  any  length  of  time. 
Since  then  only  occasional  ministrations  have  been  given. 
The  building  up  of  other  centers  of  population  at  Mansfield 
(now  Carnegie),  and  Crafton,  and  the  founding  of  churches 
there,  divided  the  already  diminishing  flock  until  literally  noth- 
ing remains  of  what  was  once  a  numerous  congregation.  The 
church  building  is  occasionally  occupied  during  the  summer 
months,  and  with  its  old  graveyard  around  it  stands  as  a  monu- 
ment of  the  first  efifort  of  reviving  life  in  the  Episcopal  Church 
in  Allegheny  County. 

What  steps  were  taken  to  establish  the  Episcopal  Church 
in  Pittsburgh  prior  to  1797  in  not  known.  But  as  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Reno  is  recorded  to  have  officiated  there  in  connection  with 
Chartiers  shortly  after  1794,  it  is  likely  there  was  some  move- 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA     47 

ment  towards  that  end.  In  1797,  however,  we  learn  from  the 
records  of  Trinity  Church  that  the  members  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  residing  in  Pittsburgh  invited  the  Rev.  John 
Taylor  to  officiate  for  them ;  but  it  was  not  until  September 
4,  1805,  that  a  regular  parish  organization  was  formed  by 
obtaining  from  the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  a  charter  "mak- 
ing and  instituting  the  Rev.  John  Taylor  the  minister  of  the 
congregation  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  Bor- 
ough of  Pittsburgh,  Pressley  Neville  and  Samuel  Roberts  the 
Wardens  of  said  Church,  and  Nathaniel  Irish,  Joseph  Barker, 
Jeremiah  Barker,  Andrew  Richardson,  Nathaniel  Bedford, 
Oliver  Ormsby,  George  McGunnigle,  George  Robinson,  Robert 
Magee,  Alexander  McLaughlin,  William  Cecil  and  Joseph 
Davis  the  V^estrymen  of  said  Church,  and  their  successors  duly 
elected  and  appointed  in  their  place,  a  Corporation  and  body 
politic  in  Law  and  in  Fact,  by  the  name,  style  and  title  of  the 
Minister,  Church  Wardens  and  Vestrymen  of  Trinity  Church, 
Pittsburgh." 

Such  was  the  decisive  step  which  gave  to  the  Church  in 
Allegheny  County  a  definite  standing  and  centre  of  growth. 
From  this  time  for  many  years,  the  history  of  Trinity  Church 
is  virtually  the  history  of  the  Church  in  Allegheny  County,  and 
in  Western  Pennsylvania.  From  the  mother  parish  nearly  all 
the  new  enterprises  took  their  start  and  looked  to  it  for  sup- 
port. About  the  same  time  with  the  organization,  the  building 
of  a  church  was  begun.  It  stood  on  the  triangular  lot  at  the 
intersection  of  Sixth  Street  with  Wood  and  Liberty  Streets, 
now  occupied  by  a  business  block.  Four  hundred  dollars  was 
paid  for  the  lot.  In  order  to  conform  to  the  shape  of  the  lot 
it  was  built  in  an  octagonal,  or  oval  form,  and  was  familiarly 
known  as  "the  old  Round  Church."  The  cornerstone  was  laid 
July  1,  1805,  but  the  church  was  never  consecrated  and  no 
bishop  visited  Pittsburgh  until  1825.  To  defray  the  indebted- 
ness of  the  church,  we  find  that  the  expedient  of  a  lottery  was 
resorted  to.  In  the  Pittsburgh  Gazette  for  March  of  1808, 
Anthony  Beelen  advertised  tickets  for  sale  in  the  Trinity  lot- 
tery at  his  shop  on  Front  Street,  now  First  Avenue ;  highest 
prize  ten  thousand  dollars ;  tickets  selling  for  a  dollar  and  a 
half.  This  was  an  approved  means  of  raising  money  in  those 
days,  and  was  in  accord  with  the  prevailing  moral  sentiment. 

"Father  Taylor,"  as  he  came  to  be  called,  held  the  rector- 
ship until  1817,  when  he  resigned.  But  few  traditions  of  his 
ministry  survive.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  faithful  and  devout 


48     EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA 

clergyman,  of  blameless  life,  who  probably  did  as  much  for  the 
church  in  those  days  as  any  ordinary  man  could.  It  is  said  that 
he  was  killed  some  years  afterwards  by  a  stroke  of  lightning 
near  Shenango,  Mercer  County,  Penna.  In  the  short  space  of 
six  years  between  Father  Taylor's  resignation  in  ]  817  and  1823 
three  clergymen  were  chosen  to  the  rectorship,  served  for  brief 
periods  and  in  turn  resigned.  No  statistics  of  the  parish  for 
these  years  exist.  Of  the  success  or  growth  of  the  congrega- 
tion, of  its  hopes  and  outlook  no  records  remain.  But  from 
the  fact  that  in  1823,  when  after  two  years'  service  the  Rev. 
William  Thompson  resigned  the  charge  of  the  church,  no  at- 
tempt was  made  to  elect  a  successor,  it  may  be  inferred  that 
the  prospects  of  the  parish  were  not  very  encouraging.  Nor 
could  it  have  reasonably  been  expected  that  an  Episcopal 
church,  situated  in  a  region  so  remote  as  Pittsburgh  then  was, 
deprived  of  the  care  of  a  bishop  and  without  the  privilege  of 
confirmation  for  the  children,  by  which  alone  new  communi- 
cants could  regularly  be  admitted,  would  make  any  striking 
progress  in  a  hostile  community.  It  is  rather  a  matter  of  sur- 
prise that  it  survived  at  all.  During  this  period  of  twenty-five 
years  or  more,  repeated  efiforts  were  made  to  enlist  the 
sympathy  and  help  of  the  Church  at  the  East,  and  to  obtain 
for  the  whole  region  west  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains,  then 
settled,  the  erection  of  a  diocese  and  the  consecration  of  a 
bishop.  Dr.  Doddridge,  though  not  then  residing  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, never  ceased  to  urge  it.  In  1810  at  a  meeting  of  Epis- 
copal clergymen,  held  at  S.  Thomas'  Church,  Washington 
County,  he  was  authorized  to  open  correspondence  with  Bishop 
White,  of  Pennsylvania,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  through 
him  permission  from  the  General  Convention  of  the  Church  in 
the  United  States  to  carry  out  this  project;  such  consent  being 
necessary  under  the  Canons  of  the  Church. 

The  petition  was  presented  by  Bishop  White,  and  at  one 
time  there  seemed  to  be  hope  of  its  favorable  consideration ; 
but  the  matter  was  dropped  as  usual,  and  the  clergy  sending 
the  memorial  never  so  much  as  heard  of  its  fate  until  nearly 
two  years  afterwards  through  the  chance  visit  of  a  clergyman 
from  the  East.  But  some  symptoms  of  interest  in  the  state  of 
the  Church  west  of  the  mountains  began  to  show  themselves 
about  the  same  time.  The  formation  of  the  Society  for  the 
Advancement  of  Christianity  in  Pennsylvania  took  place  in 
1812.  This  was  the  first  attempt  to  make  an  organized  effort 
to  plant  the  Church  on  new  ground.    Shortly  after  the  found- 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH   IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA     49 

ing  of  this  Society,  the  Rev.  Jackson  Kemper,  afterwards  Mis- 
sionary Bishop  of  the  Northwestern  Territories,  visited  Pitts- 
burgh and  its  vicinity,  and  on  his  return  made  an  interesting 
report,  whicli  has  been  lost.  In  1814,  the  Rev.  Jehu  Clay,  then 
a  deacon  from  Philadelphia,  was  sent  out  on  a  visit  of  enquiry, 
and  supplied  Mr.  Taylor's  place  at  Trinity  Church  for  three 
Sundays  while  he  made  a  missionary  tour  to  various  points 
where  services  were  desired.  It  is  also  on  record  that  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Richmond,  a  missionary  in  the  employment  of  the  Society, 
supplied  Trinity  Church  with  services  for  a  short  time.  Prob- 
ably these  were  the  first  clergymen  from  the  East  who  had  ever 
seen  Pittsburgh,  and  it  was  certainly  the  first  and  only  time 
that  Trinity  Church  received  ministrations  through  the  agency 
of  the  Church  in  the  East.  Elsewhere  the  new  Missionary 
Society  had  begun  its  active  operations,  so  successful  and 
efficient  in  after  years  in  planting  churches  which  have  become 
strong  and  flourishing. 

An  event  now  took  place  which  explains  partly  the  failure 
to  elect  a  new  rector  in  the  place  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson, 
and  which  is  really  the  first  of  the  two  decisive  events  in  the 
history  of  the  Church  in  this  country.  After  Mr.  Thompson's 
resignation  in  1823,  we  are  told  that  at  the  request  of  the 
Vestry  John  H.  Hopkins,  Esq.,  then  a  layman  of  Trinity 
Church,  was  invited  to  hold  services.  Years  before  Mr.  Hop- 
kins had  removed  to  Pittsburgh,  studied  law  and  very  soon 
became  a  very  prominent  member  of  the  bar.  It  is  said  that 
his  income  at  this  time  was  five  thousand  dollars  per  annum. 
He  had  been  brought  up  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
but  through  friendships  and  social  influences  had,  like  many 
other  members  of  the  Church,  been  led  to  attend  the  Presby- 
terian services.  His  musical  abilities  led  him  to  take  charge  of 
the  organ  and  choir  of  Trinity  Church.  Very  soon  he  became 
a  communicant,  and  finally  a  candidate  for  Holy  Orders. 
Shortly  after  he  was  invited  to  read  services  for  the  congrega- 
tion as  a  layman,  he  was  also  elected  rector  of  the  parish  in 
advance  of  the  ordination,  which  took  place  December  14,  1823. 
A  week  later  he  entered  upon  his  duties  as  Rector  of  Trinity 
Church,  and  from  that  time  dates  a  new  order  of  things  in  the 
Church  in  Allegheny  County,  and,  in  fact,  throughout  the  whole 
of  Western  Pennsylvania.  Almost  immediately  there  were  signs 
of  reviving  hope  and  courage.  The  project  of  building  a  new 
church,  which  had  for  some  time  been  talked  of,  was  put  into 
execution.    Mr.  Hopkins  made  the  plans  of  the  new  church, 


50     EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA 

and  with  his  own  hands  executed  a  large  part  of  the  interior 
decorations.    It  was  the  first  example  of  Gothic  architecture 
not  only  in  Pittsburgh  but  in  the  country.    The  new  church, 
estimated  to  seat  one  thousand  persons,  was  completed  and 
consecrated  on  S.   Barnabas'   Day,  June   11,   1835.     (Life  of 
Bishop  Hopkins,  pp.  72,  73.)    It  was  a  great  step  forward  for 
that  day,  and  meant  that  the  Church  intended  to  stay  and  to 
grow.    Up  to  that  time  no  bishop  had  ever  crossed  the  Alle- 
gheny Mountains.    In  1824  Bishop  \\'hite  made  an  attempt  to 
visit   the   western   part   of   his   diocese,   but   meeting   with   an 
accident  at  Lewistown,  he  returned  to  Philadelphia.    In  1825 
he  made  a  second  effort  and  succeeded  in  reaching  Pittsburgh 
to  consecrate  the  new  edifice  of  Trinity  Church,  thirty-eight 
years  after  his  consecration,  and  seven  years  after  Dr.  Dodd- 
ridge's letter,  which  I  read  to  you  just  now.    During  his  visit 
he  also  confirmed  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  persons  belong- 
ing to  the  congregation,  the  first  time  that  ordinance  had  ever 
been  administered  in  the  West.    He  also  visited  Connellsville, 
Wheeling  and  some  other  points.    Within  one  year  the  list  of 
communicants  at  Pittsburgh  was  increased  from  forty  to  about 
two  hundred,  so  that  it  became  at  once  the  third  parish  in 
numerical  strength  within  the  Diocese  of  Pennsylvania.    From 
that  time  it  took  its  place  in  the   front   rank  of   influential 
parishes  in  the  country,  and  was  the  recognized  representative 
of  the  Church  west  of  the  mountains,  and  an  important  center 
of  expansion.    The  varied  and  remarkable  gifts  of  the  rector 
as  a  preacher,  a  writer,  a  theologian,  a  musician,  an  architect, 
a  lawyer  and  an  artist  gave  him  a  wide  influence  throughout 
the  Church,  as  well  as  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh.    Mr.  Hopkins 
did  not  confine  his  labors  to  his  own  parish.    He  made  a  mis- 
sionary   tour    as    far    north    as    Meadville,    and    eastward    as 
Greensburg,  holding  prolonged  services  in  both  these  places, 
gathering  members  into  the  Church  (in  the  former  place  about 
sixty),  and  laying  the  foundations  of  future  parishes.    No  less 
than  seven  new  parishes  were  thus  established  by  him  in  as 
many  years.    Not  content  with  such  personal  efforts,  he  also 
tried  to  supply  the  need  of  additional  workers  in  the  field.    He 
saw  that  if  a  sufficient  number  of  the  clergy  were  to  be  secured 
for  the  then  remote  West,  it  must  be  done  by  training  them  up 
on  the  ground.    When  it  took  a  week's  time  or  more  to  make 
the  journey  from  Philadelphia  or  New  York  to  Pittsburgh,  it 
was  in  vain  to  look  for  any  considerable  number  of  promising 
recruits   from  the   East.     He  therefore   began  a  Theological 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA     5I 

Training  School  for  Clergymen  in  his  own  house.  He  had, 
before  entering  the  ministry,  purchased  a  large  tract  of  ground 
on  the  Ohio  River,  in  the  very  heart  of  what  is  now  Allegheny 
City,  but  was  then  open  country.  On  this  he  built  a  large  brick 
house,  which  still  stands  as  one  of  the  landmarks  of  sixty  years 
ago.  In  this  house  Mr.  Hopkins  fitted  a  chapel  and  recitation 
rooms,  and  received  into  his  family  such  young  men  as  desired 
to  prepare  for  Holy  Orders. 

In  1839  four  young  men  thus  trained  by  him  were  or- 
dained deacons,  and  four  others  were  among  the  candidates 
for  Orders  reported  by  the  bishop  in  his  annual  address. 

Passing  over  much  that  was  of  interest  in  the  rapid 
growth  which  followed  in  and  about  Pittsburgh,  we  come  to 
the  year  1860,  when  there  again  came  to  the  front  the  ques- 
tion of  setting  up  a  separate  diocese  in  the  counties  lying  west 
of  the  Allegheny  Mountains.  The  project  had  never  been  en- 
tirely abandoned ;  but  for  a  time  the  increased  and  rapid 
means  of  communication  with  the  East  had  rendered  the  need 
of  a  bishop  on  the  ground  less  urgent.  It  was  now  easier  to 
reach  the  most  remote  missionary  station  in  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  diocese,  than  it  was  to  get  to  Lancaster  or  Har- 
risburg  in  the  days  when  Dr.  Doddridge  and  his  friends  were 
pleading  for  a  bishop  and  a  diocese  for  the  West.  Besides,  the 
consecration  of  Bishop  H.  U.  Onderdonk  in  1828  as  assistant 
to  Bishop  White  gave  more  adequate  Episcopal  supervision 
and  quieted  for  a  time  the  demand  for  a  separate  jurisdiction. 
The  election  of  Bishop  Alonzo  Potter  in  1845,  with  his  splen- 
did physique,  commanding  powers  and  untiring  labors,  still 
further  tended  to  satisfy  Churchmen  in  the  West  with  their 
condition,  for  the  time  being.  But  in  1860  came  the  discovery 
of  petroleum  in  the  northern  counties,  and  with  it  a  great  rush 
of  fortune  seekers,  not  only  to  the  oil  producing  country  but 
to  Pittsburgh  as  the  center  of  trade  at  that  time.  The  increas- 
ing need  of  Episcopal  labor,  especially  in  these  parts  of  the 
State,  and  Bishop  Potter's  failing  health,  led  to  the  election  of 
Dr.  Samuel  Bowman  as  assistant  bishop.  From  the  very  first 
he  took  the  liveliest  interest  in  the  Church  in  the  western  coun- 
ties, and  with  all  his  might  pushed  forward  tlie  plan  of  a  new 
diocese  with  its  own  bishop.  His  sudden  death  by  the  wayside 
while  making  a  missionary  tour  in  this  part  of  the  diocese  did 
but  fire  the  determination  of  Churchmen  in  the  western  part 
of  the  State  never  to  give  up  the  agitation  until  their  prayer 
should  be  granted.    For  six  years  longer  the  conservatism  of 


52     EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA 

the  East  and  other  influences  delayed  the  step.    There  were 
fears  on  the  part  of  what  were  known  as  "Low  Churchmen," 
who  were  in  the  majority  in  the  eastern  counties,  as  to  the 
ecclesiastical    tone    of    the    proposed    diocese.     Men    gravely 
argued  on  the  floor  of  the  Convention  that  a  territory  having 
a  population   of  near  a  million,   and   rapidly   increasing,   one 
hundred   and   fifty  miles   long  and   one  hundred   miles    wide, 
needed  no  additional  oversight,  that  it  could  not  provide  for 
the  decent  support  of  a  bishop  if  their  request  were  granted, 
and  that  still  less  could  it  take  care  of  its  missionary  stations 
and  plant  new  ones  called  for.    Against  this  obstructiveness  the 
western  clergy  and  laity  worked  for  a  long  time  in  vain.     It 
was  to  no  purpose  the  backwardness  of  the  whole  country  of 
which  Pittsburgh  is  the  centre — there  were  but  six  churches  in 
which   regular   services   were   held,   north   of   Pittsburgh,   and 
about  as  many  in  the  counties  south  of  it,  some  of  these  feeble, 
and  most  of  them  stationary — that  we  were  losing  enough  of 
our  members  every  year  to  form  respectable  congregations  for 
want  of  care.    They  argued  without  effect  that  the  wealth  of 
Pittsburgh  and  Allegheny  County  alone,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
surrounding    country,    was    ample    to    provide    the    necessary 
means  for  the  salary  of  the  bishop,  and  the  carrying  on  of  mis- 
sionary operations.   And  when  asked  for  something  more  defi- 
nite, they  could  only  say  "Give  us  what  we  ask,  and  we  will 
justify  our  words."   At  length  the  persistency  and  skillful  man- 
agement of  a  few  determined  men  won  the  day,  and  in  the 
year  1865  consent  was  reluctantly  given  to  the  formation  of 
the   new   diocese,   and   what   Dr.    Doddridge   and   his    fellow- 
workers  had  sought  in  vain  more  than  fifty  years  before  was 
at  last  obtained.    To  this  consent,  however,  was  attached  the 
condition  that  a  capital  sum  of  not  less  than  thirty  thousand 
dollars    should    be    secured    as    an    endowment    for    the    new 
bishopric.    The  condition  was  readily  complied  with,  though 
under  protest,  as  being  unlawful  and  unwise.    All  preliminary 
steps  required  by  the  General  Canons  of  the  Church  having 
been  taken,  the  Primary  Convention  of  the  Diocese  of  Pitts- 
burgh met  in  Trinity  Church,  November  15,  1865.    It  was  the 
second  decisive  step  forward  for  the  Church  in  the  western 
part  of  Pennsylvania,  as  Bishop  Hopkins'  entrance  on  the  rec- 
torship of  Trinity  Church  had  been  the  first.    Many  were  the 
prophecies  of  new  life  and  progress,  and  high  were  the  hopes 
indulged  by  the  victorious  Western  Churchmen      And  on  the 
other  hand,  not  a   few  predicted  only  failure  and  embarrass- 
ment for  the  new  diocese. 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA     53 

Warm  and  something  more  than  earnest  was  the  canvass 
that  preceded  the  meeting  of  the  Convention  for  the  election 
of  a  bishop ;  for  party  spirit  was  strong  in  Pennsylvania  in 
those  days,  and  now  that  the  foundation  of  a  new  jurisdiction 
was  settled  upon,  those  who  had  opposed  it  turned  their  efforts 
towards  gaining  control  of  it.  The  after  results  of  this  struggle 
are  felt  today,  and  have  been  sufficiently  serious  to  modify  the 
actual  benefits  realized  by  the  division.  The  candidates  nomi- 
nated for  the  bishopric  were  the  Rev.  John  Barrett  Kerfoot, 
D.D.,  then  President  of  Trinity  College,  Hartford  Conn.,  some 
of  whose  devoted  students  at  S.  James'  College,  Maryland,  were 
among  the  leading  spirits  in  the  movement  for  division  of  the 
diocese ;  and  the  Rev.  Frederic  Dan  Huntington,  D.D.,  later 
Bishop  of  Central  New  York.  Dr.  Kerfoot  was  elected  on  the 
first  ballot  by  a  large  majority,  and  on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of 
January,  1866,  he  was  consecrated  first  Bishop  of  the  Diocese 
of  Pittsburgh  in  Trinity  Church.  The  event  created  unusual 
interest  throughout  the  Church,  being  the  first  case  in  which 
a  new  diocese  had  been  formed  out  of  an  old  one  since  1838, 
when  Western  New  York  was  similarly  formed,  and  also  be- 
cause of  the  long  contest  which  had  preceded  the  event.  All 
eyes  were  turned  toward  the  western  part  of  the  State,  and 
the  results  of  the  experiment  were  narrowly  watched. 

Bishop  Kerfoot  entered  upon  his  duties  with  the  energy 
and  ability  which  belonged  to  him.  His  decided  character  and 
deep  religiousness  made  a  strong  impression  from  the  start. 

With  all  the  drawbacks  mentioned  above,  the  formation 
of  the  new  diocese  more  than  justified  the  hopes  of  those 
who  had  earnestly  pressed  it.  When  the  Diocese  of  Pittsburgh 
was  formed  in  1865  there  had  been  no  increase  of  parishes 
since  1859,  and  the  number  remained  stationary  until  1868. 
But  these  same  parishes  had  vastly  developed  in  working 
power,  in  liberality,  as  well  as  in  numbers.  The  communi- 
cants had  grown  to  thirteen  hundred,  and  the  money  raised  for 
all  purposes  which  had  amounted  to  but  five  or  six  thousand, 
now  reached  forty  thousand.  After  1868  the  effect  of  constant 
supervision  of  the  bishop,  and  his  incessant  labor,  began  to 
have  its  effect  upon  the  Church  in  the  whole  county.  At  the 
time  of  Bishop  Kerfoot's  death  in  1881,  there  were  sixteen 
parishes  and  three  mission  stations  in  Allegheny  County.  The 
communicants  had  increased  to  more  than  two  thousand  five 
hundred,  and  the  contributions  had  reached  an  annual  average 
of  over  seventy  thousand  dollars,  rising  as  high  as  one  hun- 


54     EARLY  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH  IN  WESTERN  PENNSYLVANIA 

dred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  a  single  year.  While  these 
figures  are  very  far  from  being  as  large  as  they  should  be, 
they  show  a  vast  improvement  over  the  condition  of  things 
which  existed  so  long.  The  laborious  and  fruitful  Episcopate 
of  Bishop  Kerfoot  ended  at  Meyersdale,  Somerset  County, 
July  10,  1881.  He  literally  wore  himself  out  in  the  service 
of  the  Church.  His  labors  were  incessant  and  at  the  same 
time  his  highest  pleasure.  His  memory  will  long  be  cherished 
in  the  diocese,  and  the  monuments  of  his  zeal  will  tell  the 
story  of  his  unselfish  life  to  other  generations. 

And  the  moral  of  it  all  is:  Let  us  not  make  the  same 
mistakes  as  did  some  of  those  of  whom  we  have  been  speak^ 
ing.  Let  us  not  be  dilatory,  indifferent,  faithless.  Let  us 
rather  emulate  the  many  things  in  which  we  can  so  clearly  see 
that  others  of  them  were  right — let  us  be  loyal  and  true  to  the 
Church ;  never  ashamed  of  her — never  apologetic  concerning 
her — but  speaking  the  truth  in  love  and  consecrating  to  her  and 
her  interests  our  time,  our  money,  our  labors,  our  prayers,  our 
very  selves. 

The  old  problems  are  ever  at  our  doors,  asking  us  to 
solve  them.  The  history  of  the  past  tells  us  that  prompt,  posi- 
tive, generous,  self-respecting  action  will  always  ensure  best 
results.  There  is  room  for  all  to  work — no  one  need  feel  unin- 
vited— no  one  need  be  unemployed. 

Let  our  motto  be 

"Pro  Christ o  et  pro  Ecdesia.^ 


THE  CHURCH  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Organized  May  17,  1910. 

Incorporated  June  10,  1913, 


OFFICERS— 1915. 
President. — Henry  Budd,  Esq.,  Philadelphia. 
]^ ice-President. — Major  ^Ioses  Veale,  Philadelphia. 
Secretary. — Wm.    Ives    Rutter,    Jr.,    525    South    Forty-first 

Street,  Philadelphia. 
Treasurer. — John    Thomson,    A.M.,    Litt.D.,    N.     E.    Gor. 

Thirteenth  and  Locust  Streets.  Philadelphia. 

EXECUTIVE  BOARD. 
Terms  expire  1916. 
Allen  Childs,  Philadelphia. 
Albert  S.  Haeseler^  Philadelphia. 
James  M.  Lamberton,  Esq.,*  Harrisburg,  Pa. 
Rev.  John  Stockton  Littell,  D.D.,  Keene,  N.  H. 
Rev.  C.  Braxton  Bryan,  D.D.,  Petersburg,  Va. 

Terms  expire  1917. 
Rev.  Arnold  Harris  Hord,  Philadelphia. 
Rev.  G.  Woolsey  Hodge,  S.T.D.,  Philadelphia. 
Rev.  George  C.  Hall,  D.D.,  Wilmington,  Del. 
Edward  Harmon  Virgin.  New  York  City. 
Rev.  E.  Clowes  Chorley,  Garrison,  N.  Y. 

Terms  expire  1918. 
Rev.  Henry  Riley  Gummey,  D.D.,  Downingtown,  Pa. 
Rev.  Arthur  Lowndes,  D.D.,  New  York  City. 
Rev.  Horace  F.  Fuller,  Philadelphia. 
Rev.  William  F.  Peirce,  L.H.D.,  D.D.,  Gambier,  Ohio. 
Hon.  L.  Bradford  Prince,  LL.D.,  Santa  Fe,  N.  M. 

*Deceased. 


Church  H 


Church  aia 


The 


I'M  ■ 


CHURCH    HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  55 

January  21,    191 1. 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  Church  Historical  Society  was 
held  in  the  Lecture  Room  of  the  Widener  Free  Library, 
Philadelphia,  Thursday  evening,  January  21,  191 1,  the  presi- 
dent in  the  chair. 

The  Executive  Board  presented  its  report  for  the  first 
year  of  the  Society,  and  announced  the  receipt  of  contribu- 
tions from  the  American  Church  Union,  Dr.  A.  P.  Bowie, 
Allen  Childs,  Rev.  James  Biddle  Halsey,  the  Misses  Kath- 
arine K.  Hare  and  Lillian  H.  Hare,  J.  Edward  Haverstick, 
Rev.  Arnold  Harris  Hord,  Rev.  Elisha  B.  Joyce,  B.  A. 
Mitchell,  Rev.  Walter  C.  Pugh,  Wm.  Ives  Rutter,  Jr.,  M.  A. 
B.  Smith,  of  Dartmouth,  Nova  Scotia,  Rev.  Louis  C.  Wash- 
burn, D.D.,  and  Mrs.  W.  Beaumont  Whitney.  The  gift  of 
Mr.  Childs  was  the  original  manuscript  of  the  "Report  of  the 
Committee  on  Intercourse  with  the  Church  of  Sweden,"  ap- 
pointed by  the  General  Convention  of  1859 ;  said  report  signed 
by  John  H.  Hopkins,  chairman ;  Charles  P.  Mcllvaine, 
Stephen  Elliott,  Alonzo  Potter,  George  Burgess,  Francis  L. 
Hawks,  Hugh  Davey  Evans,  and  Henry  M.  Mason. 

An  amendment  to  the  Constitution,  proposed  at  the  meet- 
ing of  November  9,  19 10,  was  adopted  whereby  the  member- 
ship of  the  Executive  Board  was  increased  from  six  to  nine 
members,  three  to  be  elected  each  year,  the  term  of  service  to 
be  three  years. 

The  election  of  officers  resulted  as  follows : 
President — Henry  Budd,  Esq. 
Vice-President — Maj.  Moses  Veale. 
Secretary — Wm.  Ives  Rutter,  Jr. 
Treasurer — Spencer  P.  Hazard. 
Executive  Board  (to  serve  until  1914)  — 

Rev.  Arnold  Harris  Hord, 

John  E.  Baird. 

Elected  to  the  Executive  Board  in  accordance  with  the  fore- 
going constitutional  amendment: 
To  serve  until  19 12 — 

Rev.  G.  iWoolsey  Hodge. 

To  serve  until  1913 — 

James  M.  Lamberton,  Esq. 

To  serve  until  19 14 — 

Franklin  Spencer  Edmonds,  Esq. 


56  CHURCH    HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

The  Rev.  Samuel  F.  Hotchkin,  Registrar  of  the  Diocese 
of  Pennsylvania,  delivered  an  address,  the  subject  of  which 
was,  "Brief  Sketches  of  the  Lives  of  Bishops  White,  Onder- 
donk,  Potter,  Bowman,  and  Stevens."* 


April  28,  191 1. 

The  fourth  meeting  of  the  Church  Historical  Society  was 
held  in  the  rooms  of  the  Church  Club  of  Philadelphia,  Friday 
evening,  April  28,  191 1,  the  president  in  the  chair. 

Following  the  transaction  of  routine  business,  an  address, 
entitled  "An  Appreciation  of  the  Rev.  John  Mason  Neale, 
D.D.,"  was  delivered  by  John  Thomson,  M.A.,  Librarian  of 
the  Free  Library  of  Philadelphia. 


October  28,  191 1. 

The  fifth  meeting  of  the  Church  Historical  Society  was 
held  in  the  Assembly  Room  of  the  Church  House,  Philadel- 
phia, Saturday  evening,  October  28,  191 1,  the  president  in 
the  chair. 

After  the  transaction  of  routine  business,  the  Right  Rev. 
Daniel  Sylvester  Tuttle,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  Bishop  of  Miss- 
ouri, and  Presiding  Bishop  of  the  Church  in  the  United 
States,  delivered  an  address  on  "The  Early  Missions  of  the 
Church  in  Utah,  Idaho  and  Montana."! 


January  10,   19 12. 

The  second  annual  meeting  of  the  Church  Historical  So- 
ciety was  held  in  the  rooms  of  the  Church  Club  of  Philadel- 
phia, Wednesday  evening,  January  10,  19 12,  the  president 
in  the  chair. 

The  treasurer  presented  his  report  to  December  31,  191 1, 
showing  a  balance  on  hand  of  $89.87,  and  ,the  annual  report 
of  the  Executive  Board  was  read,  in  which  it  was  stated  that 
during  the  year  just  ended,  gifts  had  been  received  from  Rev. 
J.  B.  Blanchet,  D.D.,  Rev.  Hugh  L.  Burleson,  Edwin  H. 
Gorham,  J.  Edward  Haverstick,  Rev.  W.  Northey  Jones,  Mrs. 
Hugh  M.  North,  Wm.  Ives  Rutter,  Jr.,  and  Mrs.  A.  E.  Wager- 
Smith. 


*  Note. — This  address  was  later  extended  so  as  to  include  a  sketch 
of  Bishop  Whitaker,  and  was  published  by  the  Diocese  of  Pennsyl- 
vania as  a  supplement  to  its  Convention  Journal  for  191 1. 

+  Note. — It  is  a  matter  of  deep  regret  to  the  Executive  Board  that 
no  stenographer  was  present,  for  the  Bishop  delivered  his  address 
without  notes. 


CHURCH    HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  57 

The  annual  election  resulted  as  follows: 
President — Henry  Budd,  Esq. 
Vice-President — Maj.  Moses  Veale. 
Secretary — Wm.  Ives  Rutter,  Jr. 
Treasurer — Rev.  Horace  F.  Fuller, 
Executive  Board  (to  serve  until  191 5)  — 

Rev.  Henry  Riley  Gummey,  D.D., 

John  Thomson,  M.A., 

Rev.  Arthur  Lowndes,  D.D, 

Hon.  Asa  Bird  Gardiner,  LL.D.,  L.H.D.,  of  the  Diocese 
of  Long  Island,  delivered  an  address  upon  "The  Holy  Cath- 
olic Apostolic  Church  of  England  in  America:  Its  Establish- 
ment and  Right  of  Precedence." 


April  30,  1912. 

The  seventh  regular  meeting  of  the  Church  Historical 
Society  was  held  in  the  Neighborhood  House  of  Christ 
Church,  Philadelphia,  Tuesday  evening,  April  30,  19 12,  the 
president  in  the  chair. 

By  resolution,  the  Executive  Board  was  instructed  to 
have  the  Society  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania. 

The  Rev.  Arthur  Lowndes,  D.D.,  of  New  York,  editor 
of  the  Archives  of  the  General  Convention,  delivered  the  fol- 
lowing address,  entitled  "1812,  or  the  Church  and  State  in 
America  One  Hundred  Years  Ago." 


1812, 

or 

THE  CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA 

ONE  HUNDRED  YEARS  AGO. 


By  Arthur  Lowndes,  Doctor  in  Divinity. 


A  hundred  years  ago  tonight,*  the  debates  in  Congress 
were  going  on  as  to  whether  this  country  should  declare  war 
against  Great  Britain,  or  not.  As  we  read  the  accounts  of 
those  debates  we  are  struck  by  the  lack  of  wisdom  and  fore- 
sight shown  by  the  majority  of  the  speakers.  It  is  true  that 
the  Orders  of  Council  promulgated  by  Great  Britain  were 
annoying  and  irritating  to  American  commerce,  but  how  to 
meet  the  situation  was  not  so  easy.  The  American  Commis- 
sioners at  the  Court  of  St.  James  had  realized  far  more 
forcibly  than  the  politicians  in  the  United  States  the  great 
difficulties.  I  am  not  going  to  weary  you  tonight  with  any 
minute  account  of  the  negotiations  between  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States. 

Briefly  speaking,  this  was  the  situation:  Napoleon  had 
crushed  every  power  in  Europe  save  England.  He  had  real- 
ized that  he  could  not  successfully  invade  the  tight  little 
Island,  and  that  the  only  way  by  which  he  could  strike  a 
mortal  blow  to  her  was  by  destroying,  if  he  could,  her  mari- 
time commerce.  After  the  battle  of  Jena  and  the  defeat  of 
Prussia,  he  issued  what  is  known  as  the  Berlin  Decree.  After 
recapitulating  what  he  was  pleased  to  call  the  wickedness  of 
England,  he  "declared  that  till  she  mended  her  ways  the  whole 
coast  of  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  and  Wales,  was  in  a 
state  of  blockade."  All  trade  with  the  British  Islands  was 
forbidden.  Englishmen  and  property  belonging  to  them  were 
to  be  seized  wherever  found.  All  goods,  wares,  and  merchan- 
dise, the  product  of  England  or  her  colonies,  were  made  law- 
ful prize,  and  half  the  profits  of  such  seizures  set  apart  to 
indemnify  merchants  despoiled  by  English  cruisers.  No  ves- 
sel which  had  so  much  as  touched  at  an  English  port  was  to 
be  suffered  to  enter  any  port  or  colony  of  France. 

The  decree  was  directed  against  all  neutral  trade.  But 
the  only  neutral  trade  worthy  of  consideration  was  that  car- 
ried on  in  American  bottoms.  In  London,  therefore,  men  of 
business  read  it  with  the  deepest  interest.  At  Lloyd's  Cofifee- 
House,  where  the  underwriters  gathered;  on  the  Stock  Ex- 


*  Read  before  the  Church  Historical  Society  on  Tuesday  evening, 
April  30th,  J012, 

(58) 


CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   lOO  YEARS  AGO  59 

change ;  at  the  Bank ;  at  the  Foreign  Office  in  Downing  Street, 
the  questions  of  the  hour  were.  Will  the  decree  be  enforced? 
If  it  be  enforced,  will  the  Americans  submit?  Will  the 
Americans  resist?  And  if  they  resist  will  they  fight,  and  if 
they  fight  will  they  join  us  in  the  war?  So  serious  did  the 
matter  seem  that  Monroe  and  Pinckney  were  informed  that 
no  treaty  could  be  made  till  it  was  known  what  the  United 
States  would  do.  The  treaty  which  is  being  made,  said  in 
substance,  the  British  Commissioners,  binds  us  to  observe 
the  neutral  rights  of  the  United  States.  Nay,  more,  it  yields 
to  the  United  States  much  of  what  we  believe  to  be  our  un- 
questionable rights  of  war.  To  sign  such  a  letter  after  read- 
ing the  Berlin  Decree  would  be  to  hinder  ourselves  from 
counteracting  the  policy  of  France.  To  do  this  would  be  un- 
wise, unless  the  United  States  will  agree  to  uphold  her  neutral 
rights  against  the  decrees  of  Napoleon.  Will  your  Govern- 
ment do  this?  Will  you  consent  to  draw  up  a  treaty  and 
send  it  to  the  United  States  with  this  understanding:  the 
treaty  to  become  binding  when  your  Government  formally 
agrees  to  maintain  her  rights  on  the  seas  against  the  aggres- 
sions of  France? 

As  we  look  back,  we  see  very  clearly  that  the  wise  course 
for  the  United  States  would  have  been  to  have  thrown  in 
her  lot  with  Great  Britain  against  the  common  foe — Napoleon. 
I  say  common  foe  advisedly — because,  while  the  British  Or- 
ders in  Council  did  hurt  American  commerce,  still  they  did  so 
chiefly  indirectly,  while  the  French  advisedly  and  of  set  pur- 
pose had  been  molesting  our  American  commerce,  and  that 
without  any  apparent  excuse.  In  connection  with  this  the 
following  extract  from  a  private  letter  from  a  Philadelphian, 
James  Robertson,  to  his  brother,  Robert,  written  fourteen 
years  before,  that  is,  on  May  28,  1798,  may  prove  inter- 
esting: "It  must  give  you  pleasure  to  hear  that  Congress 
are  acting  with  much  more  decision  within  this  week  or 
two,  than  formerly.  It  affords  room  to  expect,  a  more  favour- 
able issue  to  our  present  gloomy  prospects,  than,  three  weeks 
ago,  there  was  any  reason  to  hope  for.  With  union  in  her 
Councils,  and  the  ample  resources  of  this  country,  she  has 
nothing  to  fear. — The  Bill  authorizing  the  capture  of  French 
Privateers  passed,  with  little  opposition,  and  by  a  very  re- 
spectable Majority.  This  was  a  little  surprizing,  as  it  must 
be  acknowledged,  it  was  a  very  delicate  subject;  and  the  more 
surprizing  as  it  may  be  considered  as  the  death  blow  to  that 
party,  who  have  been  so  uniform  in  their  opposition,  even  to 
measures  of  defence.  The  Armed  Ship  Ganges,  of  20  Guns 
has  sailed,  completely  manned,  and  commanded  by  an  intrepid 
and  experienced  officer,  Capt.  Dale,  who,  I  doubt  not,  will 
soon  give  a  good  account  of  himself.     The  Frigate  is  nearly 


60  CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   100  YEARS  AGO 

ready,  as  is  also  another  ship  called  the  Delaware,  lately  pur- 
chased by  Govt.  She  is  expected  to  sail  in  a  few  days.  In 
the  course  of  a  short  time,  there  will  be  a  respectable  force 
on  the  coast,  and  I  trust  will  soon  scour  it  of  those  Pirates, 
which  have  infested  it  so  long. — A  resolution  passed  the 
House  of  Representatives  yesterday,  for  bringing  in  a  Bill 
to  suspend  all  commercial  intercourse  with  France.  These 
measures,  besides  the  real  advantage  they  will  be  of  in  the 
meantime,  to  the  country,  by  preserving  much  valuable  prop- 
erty, will  strike  terror  into  the  tyrants  of  France,  by  con- 
vincing them  that  their  plans  for  governing  this  country  by 
their  diplomatic  skill,  are  blown  up,  and  by  the  dread  of  fam- 
ine in  the  West  Indies,  which  a  suspension  of  intercourse 
would  hardly  fail  to  occasion.  The  hectoring  letters  from 
their  Agents  there,  of  the  advantages,  and  the  safety  of  mak- 
ing shipments  to  them,  will  justly  be  treated,  as  insidious 
wiles,  to  draw  the  property  of  Americans  into  their  hands. 
But  the  bait  will  not  take.  I  think  of  all  the  insolence  that 
I  have  yet  heard  of,  has  been  exceeded  by  a  letter  from  one  of 
the  Agents,  lately  published,  where  he  calls  the  dispatches  of 
the  American  Envoys,  a  libel.  It  is  astonishing  to  me  that 
any  Americans,  can  read  such  insulting  language  with  pa- 
tience; but,  patience  under  injuries  is  a  virtue  which  the 
people  of  this  country  have  too  long  practiced.  It  has  ceased 
to  be  a  virtue.  I  trust,  however,  the  day  of  retribution  will 
soon  overtake,  their  unprincipled  enemies.  And,  as  sure  as 
there  is  a  just  God,  it  will  be  an  awful  one. 

"I  knew  the  Memorial  from  the  American  Commission- 
ers to  the  Directory,  which  I  lately  sent,  would  please  you. 
It  is  as  clear  and  satisfactory,  and  as  ably  drawn  up  as  any 
paper  of  the  kind  I  ever  read.  But,  it  was  scarcely  to  be 
expected,  it  would  have  any  effect  on  the  Directory.  It  is 
not  from  ignorance  they  have  acted  so  wickedly  towards  this 
country,  but  from  a  desire  of  plunder,  and  of  governing  us, 
and  making  the  people,  and  the  treasures  of  this  country 
subservient  to  their  ambitious  views.  For  my  part,  I  have  no 
expectation  of  any  accommodation  being  effected  with  them, 
and  I  therefore  sincerely  wish,  the  Com'rs  were  once  out  of 
their  country.  I  am  not  without  apprehensions  for  their 
safety.  My  only  hope  is,  that  the  vessels  which  were  sent 
for  them,  would  reach  France  before  the  dispatches;  for, 
should  the  latter  be  published  in  France,  before  the  Envoys 
get  away,  it  is  to  be  apprehended,  their  situation  would  be 
dangerous.  I  trust  however,  they  will  escape  in  safety.  I 
dare  say  you  read  with  great  pleasure,  the  many  excellent, 
and  spirited  Addresses  to  the  President,  and  his  still  more 
bold  and  energetic  Answers.  It  must  afford  great  satisfac- 
tion to  every  friend  to  his  country,  that  such  a  firm,  and 


CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   100  YEARS  AGO  6l 

able  Officer  is  at  the  head  of  affairs.  I  always  had  a  very 
exalted  opinion  of  Mr.  Adams,  but  his  conduct  lately  has,  if 
possible,  raised  him  in  my  estimation.  No  one  can  have  a 
more  favorable  opinion  of  Genl.  Washington,  than  I  have. 
I  always  thought  him  eminently  endowed  with  those  talents, 
which  fits  a  man  for  public  life,  either  in  a  civil  or  military 
capacity;  and  I  believe  that  had  he  continued  in  office,  dur- 
ing the  present  critical  times,  he  would  have  fulfilled  the  duties 
of  it,  with  credit  to  himself,  and  done  as  much,  as  man  could 
do  for  the  advantage  of  the  country.  After  all,  I  do  not  think 
he  would  have  done  better  than  Mr.  Adams;  nor,  do  I  think 
he  would  in  his  Answers  to  any  addresses,  expressed  him- 
self with  so  much  freedom,  of  the  conduct  of  the  French, 
or  their  partizans  in  this  country.  I  highly  approve  of  it.  The 
people  everywhere  have  expressed  their  confidence  in  him, 
and  it  is  therefore  right  that  they  should  know  what  his 
opinion  is,  of  their  enemies.  His  Answer  to  the  Addresses 
of  the  young  men  of  thjs  city  was  really  excellent;  but  the 
very  best,  I  have  yet  seen,  was  the  Address  from  Harris- 
burg  in  this  State,  with  the  Answer.  The  Answer  to  the 
Princeton  Students  Address,  is  likewise  masterly.  I  have 
understood,  that  some  young  men  from  New  York,  came  on 
lately  with  theirs,  but  as  it  has  not  yet  been  published,  I 
can  say  nothing  about  it.  Though  the  President  must  be 
highly  gratified,  with  such  flattering  marks  of  attention  from 
all  parts  of  the  United  States,  yet,  it  really  is  imposing  a 
great  deal  of  business  on  him  to  write  so  many  Answers. 
Though  they  are  all  the  same  in  substance,  it  is  in  some  de- 
gree necessary  to  write  an  Answer  to  each,  both  as  a  mark 
of  respect,  and  likewise  to  make  them  correspond  to  the 
style  of  the  Addresses.  But  to  a  man  of  his  capacity  it  must 
be  easy  and  there  is  nothing  to  be  regretted  but  the  loss  of 
his  time.  They  are  all  written  with  correctness,  ease,  and  a 
great  deal  of  feeling.  They  do  honour  both  to  his  head  and 
heart." 

Nothing  official  was  done.  It  is  true  that  American 
ships  harassed  the  French  on  sea,  but  there  was  no  declaration 
of  war — and  as  the  Directory  in  1798  desired  to  wipe  out 
American  commerce,  so  did  Napoleon  afterwards.  It  was  the 
settled  purpose  of  all  in  authority  in  France  to  accomplish 
this  end. 

In  1811,  Napoleon  boldly  declared  "the  decrees  of  Berlin 
and  Milan  are  the  fundamental  laws  of  my  Empire.  The 
fate  of  American  Commerce  will  soon  be  decided.  I  will 
favour  it  if  the  United  States  conform  to  these  decrees.^  In  a 
contrary  case  their  ships  will  be  driven  from  my  Empire." 

France  cared  nothing  for  the  United  States,  and  had 
England  been  defeated  and  crushed,  it  is  certain  that  Napoleon 


62  CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA  100  YEARS  AGO 

would  have  endeavored  to  annex  the  United  States.  The 
United  States  was  flooded  with  pamphlets  inciting  the  people 
to  war  against  Great  Britain  and  exclaiming  against  the  per- 
fidy of  even  doubting  "their  old  friend  and  ally."  The  poli- 
ticians in  Congress  spoke  much  about  British  gold,  but  there 
is  a  strong  suspicion  that  French  gold  paid  many  a  writer  of 
these  pamphlets.  Meanwhile  the  debates  in  Congress  con- 
tinued and  all  sorts  of  contradictory  reasons  were  given  in 
favour  of  a  war  with  Great  Britain,  but  when  it  came  to 
measures  for  providing  the  funds  there  was  a  curious  spec- 
tacle of  each  State  trying  to  tax  the  other  and  to  free  itself. 

The  orators  might  want  war,  but  the  solid  citizens  did 
not  want  to  contribute  a  cent  towards  it.  The  South  would 
not  listen  to  a  salt  tax,  the  West  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  a  land  tax,  if  a  whiskey  tax  were  imposed  Maryland 
would  benefit,  while  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  Kentucky 
would  have  to  bear  the  burden  of  it,  and  finally  this  strange 
recommendation  was  made,  that  "none  of  these  taxes  should 
be  laid  unless  war  actually  began,  that  none  should  continue 
longer  than  one  year  after  peace,  and  that  each  State  might 
assume  and  pay  so  much  of  the  direct  tax  as  fell  to  its  share." 

With  the  question  of  war  or  peace  being  in  the  balance 
there  suddenly  arrived  at  Boston  two  men  who  called  them- 
selves John  Henry  and  Edward  de  Crillon.  They  were  full 
of  their  grievances  against  England. 

Crillon  went  to  Washington,  and  bargained  for  the  sale 
of  the  Henry  letters  to  Monroe;  the  letters  purported  to  be 
accounts  of  the  angry  feelings  of  the  Federalists  and  of  their 
threats  of  rebellion  and  secession  and  of  the  negotiations  un- 
dertaken by  them  with  the  Governor  General  of  Canada.  The 
price  asked  for  these  letters  was  $125,000 — the  sum  paid  was 
$50,000.  Their  actual  value  had  been  correctly  appraised  by 
Lord  Liverpool,  to  whom  they  had  been  previously  offered, 
as  not  worth  a  shilling  for  the  lot.  By  a  unanimous  vote  the 
House  sent  the  letters  to  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations. 

As  we  look  back,  we  see  plainly  that  this  expose  pre- 
cipitated the  decision.  Pressed  on  every  side,  Madison  finally 
declared  war  on  June  19,  1812, 

John  Henry  was  an  Irishman  by  birth,  but  a  Philadel- 
phian  by  residence.  It  is  pathetic  to  remember  that  this 
rascal  married  Sophia,  the  daughter  of  Parson  Duche,  and 
a  sweetheart  of  John  Henry  Hobart.  Poor  little  Sophia  was 
evidently  dazzled  by  the  plausible  Irishman,  and  refused  to 
accept  the  offer  of  marriage  from  the  staid  young  deacon  who 
was  then  in  charge  of  Trinity  Church,  Oxford. 

As  one  of  the  conditions  of  the  sale,  Henry  had  wisely 
insisted  on  the  provision  that  his  precious  documents  should 
not  be  given  out  till  he  was  safely  at  sea.     As  for  Crillon, 


CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   lOO  YEARS  AGO  63 

he  also  announced  that  he  must  return  to  France.  Nothing 
could  check  his  eagerness,  and  on  April  first  he  left  Washing- 
ton, laden  with  despatches  to  Barlow  and  Bassano.  But  his 
courtly  manners,  his  charming  conversation,  his  patriotism, 
his  admiration  for  Napoleon,  had  not  been  forgotten  by  the 
men  who  had  lionized  him  at  Washington  when  it  began  to 
be  whispered  that  he  was  an  imposter.  The  whispers  were 
soon  confirmed  by  positive  statements,  and  Madison,  the  Sec- 
retaries, and  society  learned  with  deep  mortification  that 
no  such  person  as  Count  Edward  was  known  to  the  Crillon 
family ;  that  no  such  officer  was  known  in  the  Army  of  France ; 
that  no  such  estate  as  that  of  St.  Martial  "in  Lebeur  near 
the  Spanish  border"  existed;  and  that  the  man  on  whom 
Crillon  drew  his  drafts  in  favor  of  Henry  had  been  dead 
five  years.  It  remained,  however,  for  posterity  to  discover 
that  the  pretended  count  was  in  reality  a  secret  agent  of  the 
French  police. 

So  the  War  of  1812  was  begun — precipitated  of  set  pur- 
pose by  two  rascally  French  spies,  and  needless  since  the 
very  cause  of  complaint,  the  British  Orders  in  Council,  had 
been  decided  to  be  revoked  by  the  British  Ministry,  and  only 
the  sudden  assassination  qf  the  Prime  Minister  had  delayed 
the  proclamation  which,  however,  was  actually  issued  on  June 
23,  181 2,  not  knowing  that  only  four  days  previously  war 
had  been  declared  by  the  United  States.  It  is  a  melancholy 
reflection  that  if  there  had  then  been  a  cable  connection  be- 
tween the  two  countries,  there  would  have  been  no  war. 

The  war  proved  not  only  disastrous  to  the  American  land 
forces,  but  nearly  brought  about  the  secession  of  the  whole 
of  New  England. 

The  passionate  orators  who  had  urged  on  the  declara- 
tion of  war  had  all  agreed  that  while  the  United  States  could 
inflict  no  damage  on  Great  Britain  on  the  seas,  yet,  on  land, 
uniform  victory  was  predicted,  and  for  this  reason  the  war 
will  be  beneficial — Quebec  will  easily  fall,  Halifax  will  be 
taken,  and  with  the  loss  of  the  Canadas  British  power  and 
intrigue  in  America  will  be  ended.  Let  us  then  have,  they 
cried,  a  war  on  land  at  the  public  cost,  and  a  war  on  sea  at 
private    cost. 

This  feeling  was  voiced  by  Thomas  Jeflferson,  who,  as  far 
back  as  May  7th,  1786,  wrote  from  Paris,  to  David  Hum- 
phreys, on  the  European  outlook,  and  said  that  in  case  of  war 
with  Great  Britain,  "Should  such  an  event  become  necessary, 
we  have  need  of  only  one  resolution  to  place  us  on  sure 
ground.  That  is  to  abandon  that  element,  where  they  are 
strong,  and  we  nothing,  &  to  decide  the  contest  on  terra  firma 
where  we  have  all  to  gain  &  can  lose  nothing." 

Curiously    enough,    all    these    predictions    were    wrong. 


64  CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   100  YEARS  AGO 

Neither  Quebec  nor  Halifax  were  taken,  nor  were  the  Can- 
adas  annexed.  The  American  land  forces  met  with  a  series 
of  defeats  and  the  city  of  Washington  was  burned  and  oc- 
cupied by  the  British  troops. 

It  was  left  to  the  Navy  to  redeem  the  honour  of  the 
American  flag,  and  the  victories  of  the  ships  were  as  brilliant 
as  they  were  audacious. 

A  hundred  years  ago  tonight  Wellington  was,  little  by 
little,  driving  the  French  out  of  Spain.  Ciudad  Rodrigo  had 
fallen,  and  three  weeks  before,  on  April  6th,  Badajos  had 
been  stormed  and  captured.  Negotiations  were  being  carried 
on  between  Russia  and  Turkey,  which  were  a  month  hence 
to  find  their  culmination  in  the  Peace  of  Bycharest,  whereby 
the  River  Pruth  was  to  be  the  boundary  line  between  the  two 
empires.  Napoleon  was  making  his  final  preparations  for 
his  war  against  Russia,  the  first  act  in  which  was  his  cap- 
ture of  Wilna  two  months  hence,  on  June  28,  little  realiz- 
ing that  in  little  less  than  four  months  he  was  to  begin  his 
retreat  from  Russia.  In  England  the  Perceval  Ministry  was 
evidently  hastening  to  its  fall,  which  the  assassination  of  Per- 
ceval himself,  on  May   nth,  precipitated. 

The  exposition  of  his  system  of  similia  similibus  curantur 
was  being  expressed  by  Hahneman,  and  the  homoeopathists, 
amidst  the  ridicule  of  the  older  practitioners,  were  beginning 
to  make  recruits  to  their  system. 

The  first  steam  printing  press,  invented  by  Konig,  the 
German  mathematician,  was  beginning  its  work. 

We  complain  this  year  of  the  backwardness  of  our  spring, 
but  the  same  complaint  was  being  made  a  hundred  years  ago 
tonight.  There  had  been  snow  in  Philadelphia  on  April  13th, 
and  the  weather  was  cold  and  raw  on  April  30th,  presaging 
another  fall  of  snow  on  May  4th.  In  1812,  the  steamboat 
"New  Jersey"  was  plying  between  Philadelphia  and  White- 
hall, two  miles  below  Bordentown. 

A  railroad,  the  second  in  this  country,  was  running  from 
Thomas  Leiper's  stone  quarries,  on  Crum  Creek,  Delaware 
County,  to  his  landing  on  Ridley  Creek,  a  distance  of  about 
one  mile. 

This  is  what  Watson  says,  but  as  steam  for  railroads 
was  not  introduced  till  1828  or  1829,  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  this  railroad  consisted  only  of  rails  laid  down,  perhaps 
on  an  inclined  plane. 

'Tn  the  year  1812,  Mr.  George  Shoemaker,  then  an  inn- 
keeper at  Pottsville,  and  Nicholas  Allen,  discovered  coal  on 
a  piece  of  land  they  had  purchased,  now  called  Centreville. 
Allen  soon  became  disheartened,  and  gave  up  the  concern  to 
Shoemaker,   who,   receiving  encouragement   from   some  gen- 


CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   100  YEARS  AGO  65 

tlemen  in  Philadelphia,  got  out  a  quantity  of  coal,  and  took 
nine  wagon-loads  to  Philadelphia.  Here  again,  our  coal  met 
with  a  host  of  opposition.  On  two  wagonloads  Mr.  S.  got 
the  carriage  paid;  the  others  he  gave  away  to  persons  who 
would  attempt  to  use  it.  The  result  was  against  the  coal; 
those  who  tried  it,  pronounced  it  stone  and  not  coal,  good  for 
nothing,  and  Shoemaker  an  imposter!  At  length,  after  a 
multitude  of  disappointments,  and  when  Shoemaker  was  about 
to  abandon  the  coal  and  return  home,  Messrs.  Melon  and 
Bishop,  of  Delaware  County,  made  an  experiment  with  some 
of  the  coal  in  their  rolling  mill,  and  found  it  to  succeed  beyond 
expectation,  and  to  be  a  highly  valuable  and  useful  fuel.  The 
result  of  their  experiments  was  published  at  the  time  in  the 
Philadelphia  papers.  Some  experiments  with  the  coal  were 
made  in  the  works  at  the  falls  of  Schuylkill,  but  without  suc- 
cess. Mr.  Wernwag,  the  manager  at  the  Phoenix  works,  at 
French  Creek,  also  made  trial  of  the  coal,  and  found  it  emi- 
nently useful.  From  that  time  forward,  the  use  of  the  coal 
spread  rapidly." 

One  hundred  years  ago,  this  very  day,  Louisiana  was 
admitted  into  the  Union. 

A  century  ago  the  population  of  Philadelphia  was  ap- 
proaching one  hundred  thousand;  it  was  the  largest  in  the 
country — but  New  York  was  rapidly  gaining  upon  it.  Hav- 
ing been  for  a  time  the  seat  of  government,  it  had  acquired 
somewhat  of  a  metropolitan  character,  and  during  the  French 
Revolution  and  ascendency  of  Bonaparte  many  aristocratic 
exiles  made  it  their  home  and  contributed  to  its  culture.  Some 
made  a  livelihood  by  teaching  languages  and  arts,  especially 
music;  others  brought  scientific  knowledge  and  the  principles 
of  the  Encyclopaedia.  A  diversified  and  parti-colored  life  had 
replaced  the  simplicity  and  monotony  of  the  provincial  pe- 
riod ;  the  age  of  contrasts  had  begun.  Roman  Catholicism  and 
deistic  infidelity,  the  social  refinements  and  license  of  Ver- 
sailles, were  all  in  evidence.  Beside  the  French  emigrants 
there  were  many  German  and  Irish  Catholics ;  Michael  Egan, 
a  member  of  the  Franciscan  order,  had  just  been  consecrated 
their  bishop. 

In  the  winter  of  1811-1812  theatre-goers  were  in  a  wild 
state  of  excitement  over  the  arrival  of  George  Frederick 
Cooke,  the  English  tragedian. 

"He  was  engaged  for  twelve  nights,  and  made  his  first 
appearance,  on  the  25th  of  March,  as  Richard  III.  There 
were  no  reserved  seats  in  those  days,  and  it  was  not  an  un- 
usual thing  to  see  a  servant,  or  some  one  hired  for  the  pur- 
pose, rush  into  the  house  as  soon  as  he  could  gain  admittance, 
drop  into  some  desirable  seat,  and  occupy  it  until  his  master 


66  CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA  lOO  YEARS  AGO 

or  employer  came  to  claim  it.  On  the  occasion  of  Cooke's 
first  appearance,  which  was  on  a  Monday,  such  precautionary 
measures  were  of  little  avail.  As  early  as  Sunday  evening — 
as  related  by  Charles  R.  Leslie  in  his  'Autobiography' — the 
steps  of  the  theatre  were  covered  with  men  who  had  come 
prepared  to  spend  the  night  there,  that  they  might  have  the 
first  chance  of  taking  places  in  the  boxes.  Some  actually  took 
off  their  hats  and  put  on  nightcaps.  When  the  doors  were 
opened  at  ten  o'clock,  Monday  morning,  the  street  in  front 
of  the  theatre  was  impassable.  The  rush  was  tremendous. 
Men  literally  fought  their  way  through,  coats  were  torn  off 
the  backs  of  their  owners,  hats  knocked  off  and  mashed ;  one 
fellow,  swinging  himself  up  by  means  of  the  iron  bracket  of 
a  lamp,  ran  over  the  heads  of  the  crowd  into  the  theatre.  By 
evening  the  crowd  that  besieged  the  doors  was  so  dense  and 
tumultuous  that  it  was  evident  ticket-holders,  and  especially 
ladies,  could  not  make  their  way  through  it  without  danger." 

The  theatre  was  the  old  Market  Street  Theatre,  and  it 
may  interest  you  to  know  that  Cooke  lies  buried  in  St.  Paul's 
Church-yard,  New  York,  where  there  is  a  monument  erected 
to  his  memory  by  his  friend,  Edmund  Kean, 

When  we  come  to  take  a  survey  of  the  Church  as  it  was 
in  this  country  one  hundred  years  ago,  on  April  30,  1812, 
we  shall  find  much  to  sadden  us.  Apathy  and  indifference 
almost  everywhere,  and  yet  we  are  tonight  more  fortunate 
than  were  the  few  zealous  souls  who  were  living  a  century  ago. 
We  know  that  this  apathy  and  indifference  was  soon  about 
to  be  dissipated  and  that  the  Church  was  not  only  going  to 
arouse  herself,  but  to  become  actually  aggressive  within  a  very 
few  years  and  that  through  that  aggressiveness,  we  who  are 
alive  tonight  have  entered  upon  the  labours  and  benefited  by 
the  warfare  waged  by  the  soldiers  and  captains  of  our  Church. 

We  had  then  seven  Bishops,  White,  Provoost,  Claggett, 
Jarvis,  Moore,  Hobart,  and  Griswold.  The  report  made  to 
the  General  Convention  of  181 1  gave  a  total  number  of  clergy 
in  the  United  States  as  178,  but  there  must  have  been  at 
least  220  in  all,  as  Virginia  and  other  Southern  dioceses  made 
no  report.  Among  the  parochial  clergy  who  afterwards  be- 
came Bishops  were  Dehon,  Channing  Moore,  Kemp,  Croes, 
Bowen,  Chase,  Meade,  Stone,  Kemper,  and  Gadsden.  Among 
those  who  held  or  who  afterwards  attained  honour  and  prefer- 
ment are  found  the  names  of  Beach,  Berrian,  Eaton,  Addison, 
Andrews,  Hubbard,  Bowden,  Jarvis,  Wharton,  Abercrombie, 
Blackwell,  Pilmore,  Beasley,  Smith,  Judd,  Percy,  Bronson, 
Burhans,  Cave  Jones,  Wilkins,  Rudd,  Crocker,  Gordon,  Mc- 
Vickar  and  Absalom  Jones.  To  these  names  must  be  added 
those  of  the  two  men  who  never  attained  any  honour  or  pre- 


CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   lOO  YEARS  AGO  (yj 

ferment,  whose  lot  was  one  of  poverty,  disappointments,  diffi- 
culties, hardships  and  neglect,  but  who  were,  perhaps,  the 
greatest  in  the  Kingdom  of  God — Daniel  Nash  and  Davenport 
Phelps. 

Over  that  territory  known  as  the  Eastern  Diocese,  com- 
prising Massachusetts,  which  then  included  Maine,  New 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  and  Rhode  Island,  Alexander  Viets 
Griswold  had  been  placed  just  eleven  months  ago  as  its  first 
Bishop.  Griswold  was  an  excellent  scholar,  perhaps  the  most 
scholarly  of  the  seven  Bishops  of  that  day,  he  had  a  keen 
judgment  of  men  and  a  ready  appreciation  of  what  had  to 
be  done  in  the  way  of  the  extension  of  the  Church.  He  was 
untiring  and  faithful  in  his  oversight  of  the  huge  and  unprom- 
ising territory  committed  to  his  charge.  His  manners  were 
so  mild  and  unassuming  that  men  failed  to  recognize  beneath 
that  gentle  exterior  the  intellectuality  of  the  mind  and  the 
firmness  of  purpose. 

In  Connecticut,  Abraham  Jarvis  had  succeeded  Seabury 
to  the  Metropolitical  See  of  all  America,  and  had  faithfully 
and  conscientiously  carried  out  the  work  of  his  predecessor. 
Afflicted  with  asthma,  and  weak  of  body,  he  was,  in  1812, 
living  in  practical  retirement  in  New  Haven.  He  looked  for- 
ward with  pride  to  the  future  career  of  his  son,  Samuel 
Farmer,  who  had  been  ordained  two  years  previously,  and 
who  was  beginning  to  evidence  that  zeal  for  learning  which 
afterwards  made  him  the  great  scholar  of  the  American 
Church. 

In  New  York,  Trinity  Church  was  paramount.  This  was 
owing,  partly,  to  her  endowments,  but  largely  to  the  well- 
merited  influence  of  the  very  able  men  whom  the  parish  had 
selected.  Connected  with  Trinity  parish,  there  were  three 
Bishops,  Provoost,  Moore,  and  Hobart.  Provoost  was  what 
we  should  now  call  a  retired  Bishop,  Moore  was  the  actual 
Bishop,  and  Hobart  was  his  assistant.  Owing  to  the  contra- 
dictory action  taken  by  the  House  of  Bishops  in  the  election 
of  Benjamin  Moore,  there  had  been  a  good  deal  of  contro- 
versy in  1811  over  the  precise  rights  of  Bishop  Provoost  and 
Bishop  Moore,  but  into  this  I  need  not  enter.  The  parish  and 
the  Diocese  were  fortunate  in  having  men  of  such  marked 
ability  as  its  early  rectors  and  bishops.  Provoost  was  a  man 
of  strong  parts,  well  educated,  scholarly  in  tastes,  refined  and 
courtly,  and  unidentified  with  the  Tory  cause  during  the  war, 
he  was  able  to  win  to  his  side  the  prominent  Whig  families, 
and  not  be  a  cause  of  irritation  to  the  common  people  as  the 
devoted  loyalist  and  gentleman,  Charles  Inglis,  would  have 
been.  Provoost's  courtly  manners  at  the  same  time  conciliated 
the  few  families  who  were  Tories  at  heart. 

All  sorts  of  absurd  stories,  manufactured  out  of  whole 


68  CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   100  YEARS  AGO 

cloth,  have  been  stupidly  told  about  Samuel  Provoost,  but 
the  simple  fact  remains  that  he  conscientiously  performed  all 
the  duties  of  his  Bishopric  as  the  office  of  Bishop  was  then 
considered  in  England.  He  has  been  taxed  as  being  a  lati- 
tudinarian  by  those  who  have  never  read  his  sermons.  For- 
tunately, hundreds  of  his  MSS.  sermons  have  been  recov- 
ered, and  he  who  reads  them  will  find  them  models  of  brev- 
ity and  terse  reasoning,  and  if  they  were  preached  today  would 
be  considered  by  many  as  being  too  High  Church  in  tone. 

He  was  a  wise  administrator,  and  to  him  and  to  Abraham 
Beach,  must  be  given  the  praise  of  having  conserved,  not 
only  the  patrimony  of  the  parish,  but  also  its  spiritual  in- 
heritance at  a  time  of  confusion  and  disintegration.  A  hun- 
dred years  ago  he  was  living  in  retirement,  owing  to  failing 
health. 

Benjamin  Moore  was  not  so  virile  a  man  as  either  his 
predecessor  or  his  successor.  Gentle  and  quiet,  he  went  on 
his  way  unassumingly,  but  to  him  must  be  given  the  praise 
of  having  been  the  first  Bishop  in  the  American  Church  to 
realize  the  necessity  of  missionary  work  in  new  settlements. 
He  not  only  visited  his  large  Diocese  carefully  and  punctually, 
but  gave  directions  to  Davenport  Phelps  as  to  how  he  should 
conduct  his  missionary  work  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State, 
which  are  still  models  in  instruction  for  missionary  work.  He 
took  a  warm  and  personal  interest  in  his  clergy,  as  their  let- 
ters to  him  prove.  In  1812,  he  had  been  for  some  time  dis- 
abled by  paralysis  from  doing  any  active  work. 

John  Henry  Hobart  stands  alone,  and  defies  characteriza- 
tion. He  was  restless,  impetuous,  ardent,  untiring,  loving, 
and  yet  studious,  thoughtful,  dignified,  and  negligent  of  his 
friends.  His  one  dominant  passion  was  zeal  for  the  House  of 
the  Lord,  and  in  that  crucible  all  other  qualities  are  fused. 
He  was  the  remodeller  of  the  Episcopate,  the  type  of  the  mod- 
ern rector  and  parish  priest,  the  insistent  advocate  of  the 
grace  of  the  sacraments,  the  preacher  of  righteousness,  the 
proclaimer  of  the  divine  character  of  the  American  Church, 
the  founder  of  the  Catholic  Movement  in  the  Anglican  Com- 
munion, and  the  standard  bearer  of  what,  in  1812,  was  con- 
sidered a  forlorn  hope,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  American 
Church  over  the  whole  continent  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  trumpeter  calling  upon  all  her  sleeping  children  to  rally 
to  her  standard.  Trinity  Church,  and  not  Oxford,  is  the 
cradle  of  the  Oxford  movement,  and  Trinity  Church  is  the 
alma  mater  of  that  type  of  Christianity  which  has  for  its 
motto,  Hobart's  words,  "Apostolic  Order,  and  Evangelical 
Truth." 

On  the  staflf  of  Trinity  Church,  besides  these  three 
Bishops,  were  a  hundred  years  ago  tonight,  Abraham  Beach, 


CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   lOO  YEARS  AGO  69 

William  Berrian,  Thomas  Yardley  How,  and  William  Edward 
Wyatt. 

In  New  York  City,  counting  Trinity  Church  and  its 
Chapels,  there  were  twelve  churches  in  1812. 

To  account  for  Hobart's  preponderating  influence  in  the 
whole  Church,  and  not  only  in  New  York,  I  have  gone  over 
the  whole  list  of  the  178  clergy  returned  to  the  General  Con- 
vention of  181 1,  and  I  find  that  93  of  them  were  in  regular 
correspondence  with  him,  that  is,  more  than  one-half  of  the 
clergy  sought  his  advice  and  counsel.  We  must  remember 
that  the  revival  one  hundred  years  ago  was  not  due  to  Hobart 
only,  but  to  the  number  of  men  who  looked  up  to  him  as  a 
leader  and  counsellor. 

Churchmen  in  New  Jersey,  having  no  Bishop  of  their 
own,  looked  to  New  York  for  Episcopal  advice  and  ministra- 
tions. The  leading  men  in  that  State  were  John  Croes  and 
John  Churchill  Rudd. 

About  William  White,  it  would  be  idle  for  me  to  say 
anything  in  this  place. 

It  is  fitting  to  say  here  that  John  Henry  Hobart  was  a 
native  of  Philadelphia,  baptized  and  confirmed  in  this  historic 
church  and  brought  up  under  the  ministrations  of  Dr.  White. 

At  Christ  Church,  a.  hundred  years  ago  tonight,  beside 
Bishop  White,  there  were  Dr.  Blackwell  and  Dr.  Abercrombie, 
and  Jackson  Kemper  was  to  come  there  the  following  month. 
Dr.  Pilmore  was  at  St.  Paul's,  and  Absalom  Jones,  the  first 
colored  priest  of  the  American  Church,  was  in  charge  of  St. 
Thomas's. 

Pittsburgh  was  then  the  outpost  of  the  Church,  and  there 
had  labored  faithfully  John  Taylor,  who  had  organized  Trinity 
Church  in  1805.  It  was  the  only  live  parish  in  Pennsylvania, 
west  of  the  mountains.  Joseph  Doddridge  had  in  vain  pleaded 
and  pleaded  that  if  the  Church  could  do  nothing  for  the 
western  part  of  Pennsylvania  that  at  any  rate  a  separate  Dio- 
cese could  be  erected.  Doddridge  says  that  after  waiting 
eighteen  months  for  an  answer  he  was  at  last  told  nothing 
could  be  done. 

"I  lost  all  hope  of  ever  witnessing  any  prosperity  in  our 
beloved  Church  in  this  part  of  America.  Everything  con- 
nected with  it  fell  into  a  state  of  languor.  The  vestries  were 
not  re-elected,  and  our  young  people  joined  other  societies. 
Could  I  prevent  them  when  I  indulged  no  hope  of  a  succes- 
sion in  the  ministry?  ...  I  entertained  no  hope  that  even 
my  own  remains,  after  death,  would  be  committed  to  the  dust 
with  the  funeral  services  of  my  own  Church." 

Chase  was  consecrated  for  Ohio  in  1819,  and  it  was  not 
till  six  years  afterward,  that  is,  in  1825,  that  William  White 
paid  his  first  visit  to  that  part  of  his  Diocese. 


70  CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   100  YEARS  AGO 

In  Delaware,  which  was  practically  under  Bishop  White, 
the  clergy  were :  William  Pryce,  at  the  Old  Swedes,  who  did 
an  immense  amount  of  good  by  the  republication  of  standard 
and  useful  books  on  sound  Anglican  theology;  Robert  Clay, 
at  Newcastle ;  James  Wiltbank,  at  Lewes ;  and  Hamilton  Bell, 
at  Georgetown. 

In  Maryland,  Bishop  Claggett  was  at  the  helm.  He  was 
the  first  Bishop  consecrated  in  this  country,  uniting  the  Scottish 
and  English  lines  of  succession.  Claggett  was  energetic,  but 
feeble  in  health,  unfortunately.  Still  he  tried  hard  to  raise 
the  tone  of  Churchmanship  both  among  the  clergy  and  the 
laity,  as  evidenced  by  his  pastoral  of  1804.  He  took  especial 
pains  to  plant  the  Church  in  the  Southwest,  sending  Edward 
Gantt  and  other  men  there  on  missionary  tours. 

Bend  was  at  St.  Paul's,  and  Kemp  and  Kewley  were 
on  the  Eastern  Shore,  and  Jackson  at  St.  Peter's,  Talbot 
County,  all  men  energetic  and  definite  in  their  teaching  of 
the  peculiar  claims  of  the  American  Church,  as  was  also,  in 
his  quiet  way,  William  Murray  Stone.  It  may  be  of  interest 
to  remind  you  that  Bishop  Claggett  wore  a  mitre  at  great 
functions.  In  Virginia,  Madison  had  but  just  died  about 
seven  weeks  previously  and  had  left  the  Church  in  a  very 
feeble  condition.  James  Madison  had  always  considered  that 
his  duty  lay  first  to  the  College  of  William  and  Mary.  He 
had  right  ideas  of  the  duties  of  the  clergy  and  laity,  as  is 
shown  by  his  convention  addresses,  but  unfortunately  he  never 
magnified  his  office  of  Bishop. 

The  Church,  in  Virginia,  in  April,  181 2,  was  in  a  de- 
plorable condition,  partly  through  the  indolence  of  the  Church 
people  and  partly  owing  to  the  absorption  of  the  best  families 
in  the  game  of  politics,  partly  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  a 
species  of  infidelity  considered  as  a  fashionable  importation 
from  France.  When  the  Methodists  and  Baptists  traversed 
Virginia,  it  is  no  wonder  that  some  Virginians,  hungry  for 
any  religion,  flocked  to  their  standards,  or  that  their  ardent 
missionary  zeal  made  sad  inroads  into  the  Church.  The  cul- 
minating blow  was  the  confiscation  by  the  State  of  the  Church 
glebes  in  1802.  After  this,  Virginia  churchmen  seem  to  have 
settled  down  to  despair.  In  181 2,  the  faint  beginnings  of  a 
revival  were  stirring  the  dry  bones.  A  few  of  the  younger 
men  determined  to  revive  the  Church.  Among  them  was 
William  Meade,  who,  owing  to  his  intimacy  with  Edward  J. 
Lee  and  other  young  men,  all  friends  of  John  Henry  Hobart, 
and  loyal  churchmen,  deplored  the  decline  of  religion,  and 
determined  to  bring  about  a  better  state  of  things.  In  this  con- 
nection may  be  given  a  letter  written  twenty  months  later, 
but  showing  the  spirit  actuating  Meade  and  his  young  friends 
in  1812. 


CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   lOO  YEARS  AGO  7 1 

"December  31ST,  1813. 
"Dear  Sir: 

"Your  communications  concerning  Doctor  More  I  have 
received  &  am  well  pleased  with;  I  think  his  conduct  very 
correct.  His  proposals  raise  him  in  my  estimation.  I  think 
we  may  venture  to  assure  him  of  the  office  of  Bishop.  Sur- 
prized I  am  indeed  that  Doctor  Hobart  should  recommend 
him  "Timeo  Danaos  etiam  dona  ferentes."  I  hope  the  People 
of  Richmond  will  accept  his  terms,  if  they  are  wise  &  if  God 
yet  smiles  on  Episcopacy,  they  will  gladly  take  him.  I  be- 
lieve I  shall  write  to  Doctor  Brockenburg  on  the  subject. 
Doctor  More  should  be  in  Richmond  before  April.  I  am 
truly  sorry  that  you  will  be  absent  when  I  come  down.  God 
willing — nothing  preventing — I  shall  be  there  toward  the  last 
of  next  week.  I  shall  certainly  be  at  your  house.  With 
prayers  for  the  welfare  of  your  soul  &  the  happiness  of  your 
present  life  I  remain  your  sincere  friend, 

"WILLIAM  MEADE. 
"Superscription — 

"Mr.  Edmund  Lee, 
"Alexandria, 

"Columbia." 

In  North  Carolina,  the  Church  was  at  a  low  ebb.  Not- 
withstanding the  efforts  of  Charles  Pettigrew,  who  was  elected 
Bishop,  Solomon  Hailing,  Parson  Meiklejohn  and  Parson 
Miller  and  a  few  earnest  laymen,  who,  from  1790  to  1795, 
worked  hard  to  revive  the  Church,  it  seemed  almost  impos- 
sible to  waken  her,  although  faithful  work  was  done  at  Wil- 
mington, Edenton  and  New  Bern.  The  arrival  of  men  like 
Bethel  Judd,  Adam  Empie,  and  Gregory  Thurston  Bedell 
marked  the  turn  of  the  tide,  and  when  Richard  Channing 
Moore  became  Bishop  of  Virginia  he  was  placed  in  charge, 
and  did  all  in  his  power  to  hearten  those  who  were  working 
for  a  revival  of  the  Church. 

In  South  Carolina  the  situation  was  equally  deplorable. 
St.  Michael's  and  St.  Philip's  in  Charleston  continued  their 
work,  and  the  Church  was  strong  numerically  in  Charleston, 
but  with  no  thought  of  its  responsibility  outside  of  the  city. 
The  South  Carolinians  had  always  been  jealous  of  the  powers 
of  a  Bishop,  and  deferred  as  long  as  possible  to  have  one. 
Robert  Smith,  after  a  brief  Episcopate  of  six  years  had  died 
in  the  autumn  of  1801,  but  it  was  not  until  eleven  years  after- 
ward that  Dehon  was  consecrated  the  second  Bishop  of  that 
Diocese.  When  Dehon  did  assume  charge,  it  was  found  that 
he  took  his  office  very  seriously;  he  was  a  real  Bishop,  and 
pressed  forward  the  work  of  Church  extension.  In  1812 
there  was  only  one  man  who  took  to  heart  the  work  of  fur- 


^2  CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   100  YEARS  AGO 

thering  the  cause  of  the  Church,  and  that  was  Andrew 
Fowler. 

The  first  Confirmation  ever  held  in  the  Diocese  was  in  the 
parish  of  Andrew  Fowler  in  March,  1813.  Mr.  Fowler  found 
it  not  only  necessary  to  instruct  his  candidates,  but  to  issue  a 
tract  explanatory  of  the  rite  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  parish. 
So  important  and  momentous  did  he  consider  the  event  that  he 
wrote  a  minute  account  of  it,  with  his  address  at  the  presenta- 
tion of  the  candidates,  to  the  Bishop. 

In  Georgia  a  like  condition  prevailed.  Outside  of  the 
parish  of  Savannah,  there  was  complete  apathy,  an  apathy  not 
broken  until  the  zealous  Dehon  took  charge  of  the  Church  on 
his  election  to  the  Bishopric  of  South  Carolina. 

Louisiana,  which  had  been  ceded  by  France  in  1802,  was 
made  a  State  in  1812. 

The  Church  in  New  Orleans  had  been  organized  June 
2,  1805,  through  the  efforts  of  a  few  laymen,  notably  James 
M.  Bradford,  James  C.  Williamson  and  Edward  Livingston. 
In  consequence  of  a  communication  sent  by  these  men  to  John 
Henry  Hobart,  on  August  10,  1805,  asking  him  to  recommend 
a  suitable  person  for  their  minister.  Philander  Chase  was  sent 
there.  For  six  years,  from  November,  1805,  to  March,  181 1, 
he  displayed  his  restless  energy  in  building  up  the  parish.  In 
1812,  the  parish  was  vacant,  but  services  were  maintained  by 
laymen,  until  James  Hull  went  there  in  1814. 

In  West  Virginia  and  in  Ohio  towns  on  the  Ohio  River, 
Joseph  Doddridge,  a  physician  and  priest,  ministered  faith- 
fully, notwithstanding  disappointments  and  discouragements  of 
all  kinds. 

One  hundred  years  ago  was  formed  that  noble  Society 
for  the  Advancement  of  Christianity  in  Pennsylvania.  Jack- 
son Kemper  was  the  prime  mover  in  its  formation.  Its  ob- 
ject was  to  increase  the  supply  of  clergy;  to  provide  for  the 
distribution  of  prayer  books;  to  revive  the  decaying  parishes; 
to  strengthen  the  feeble  ones,  and  to  plant  new  ones  where 
needed.  Jackson  Kemper  was  chosen  as  the  first  missionary 
of  the  new  society,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1812  set  out  on  that 
remarkable  tour  of  exploration  which  marked  an  era  in  the 
Church  in  Pennsylvania  and  adjoining  States.  In  his  report 
he  states  tha't  Doddridge  had  told  him  that  in  his  opinion  half 
of  the  9riginal  settlers  of  Ohio,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  had 
been  Episcopalians,  and  that  it  was  then  not  too  late  to  recover 
some  of  them.  As  you  and  I  know,  nothing  was  done,  and  the 
Church  lost  those  States. 

Examine  the  last  census  returns,  and  see  how  weak  the 
Church  is  in  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee, 
how  infinitesimal  our  numbers  are  in  those  four  States  in  com- 
parison with  the  Roman  Catholics,  the  Methodists,  the  Pres- 


CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   100  YEARS  AGO  "JT, 

byterians,  or  the  Baptists,  and  as  you  sigh  over  the  showing, 
do  not  blame  the  men  of  today — they  are  doing  all  they  can, 
poor  souls,  to  recover  the  lost  headway ;  but  blame,  and  blame 
severely  the  men  of  one  hundred  years  ago  and  more,  for 
the  wilful  and  woeful  neglect  of  church-people,  let  alone  their 
apathy  in  extending  the  domains  of  the  Church. 

In  his  report,  Kemper  stated  as  his  conclusions  that  the 
apathy  of  the  congregation  is  principally  entirely  owing  to  the 
pastor  who  presides  over  it,  and  that  the  custom  throughout 
Pennsylvania,  of  being  anti-rubrical,  has  been  attended  with 
much  fatal  consequences  to  our  Zion. 

In  1812  we  had  at  least  100,000  communicants,  and  about 
220  clergy. 

In  1 812  as  far  as  I  can  make  out,  the  Roman  Catholics 
had  an  Archbishop,  four  Bishops,  and  seventy  priests,  with 
eighty  churches  in  the  United  States,  and  numbering  at  least 
200,000  adherents. 

The  Methodists,  in  1812,  reported  a  total  of  156,852 
whites,  and  38,505  colored  adherents,  with  688  preachers,  and 
two  Bishops  or  superintendents. 

Today  they  number  5,749,838. 

The  population  of  the  United  States  was  seven  and  a  quar- 
ter millions.  Today  it  is  ninety-two  millions,  or  fifteen  times 
greater.  Taking  this  ratio  of  increase  the  last  census  ought 
to  have  given  us  1,500,000  communicants;  to  the  Methodists, 
2,350,000;  and  to  the  Romanists,  3,000,000.  From  this  esti- 
mated increase  we  have  fallen  short  by  700,000.  The  Meth- 
odists have  5.750,000,  or  have  doubled  the  estimated  increase, 
and  the  Roman  Catholics  have  12,000,000,  or  have  quadrupled 
the  estimated  increase. 

In  181 2  there  was  a  small  body  of  Christians  in  an  ob- 
scure corner  of  Pennsylvania  numbering  but  a  handful.  These 
people,  known  as  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  have  in  the  one  hun- 
dred years  of  their  existence,  outstripped  the  Church.  Start- 
ing from  a  few  families,  they  now  number  1,142,359  com- 
municants, having  a  quarter  of  a  million  more  communicants 
than  we  have  today. 

I  think  the  Methodist  figures  returned  to  the  census  are 
fairly  reliable,  as  they  are  painstaking  in  their  reports.  The 
Roman  Catholic  figures  are  undoubtedly  exaggerated,  and  they 
include  all  adherents,  not  their  communicants  only,  as  we  re- 
port. Even  making  every  allowance  for  the  immigration  of 
Roman  Catholics  to  this  country,  and  the  partial  immigration 
of  Methodists,  the  fact  remains  that  we  have  not  only  not 
made  the  increase  we  ought  to  have  done,  but  have  actually 
fallen  off.  It  is  far  better  to  face  facts  than  to  ignore  them, 
and  a  false  security  is  always  the  most  disastrous. 

Let  me  press  home  to  you  that  the  work  was  being  done 


74  CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   100  YEARS  AGO 

one  hundred  years  ago  just  as  I  believe  it  is  being  done  this 
very  night  by  those  who  are  battUng  every  possible  combina- 
tion arrayed  against  the  Church,  being  done  by  the  humble 
men  of  heart  in  quiet  and  obscure  places. 

Let  me  read  to  you  two  letters,  written  just  one  hundred 
years  ago.  Here  is  one  from  Amos  Glover  Baldwin  to  Bishop 
Moore,  giving  an  account  of  his  pioneer  work :    . 

"On  the  7th  of  this  month  I  officiated  in  Fairfield,  Her- 
kimer County,  ten  miles  North  East  of  Herkimer,  and  seven 
North  of  the  Little  Falls  on  the  Mohawk.  It  was  the  first 
time  that  divine  service  according  to  our  mode  has  been  per- 
formed perhaps  within  twenty  miles  of  that  place.  A  respect- 
able congregation  assembled;  and  I  was  extremely  happy  to 
learn  that  none  were  disgusted  or  displeased,  but  many  sol- 
emnly impressed  at  hearing  our  excellent  service  performed. 
It  was  Saturday  at  sundown  before  I  arrived  in  the  place, 
and,  therefore,  all  who  are  attached  to  the  Church  did  not 
receive  information  of  my  being  there.  And  indeed  no  one 
knew  all  that  are  attached  to  us.  Everything  exceeded  my 
most  sanguine  hopes.  I  found  within  the  circle  of  a  few 
miles  during  my  stay  of  two  days  and  a  half,  fifteen  or  twenty 
respectable  families,  and  some  of  them  influential  characters. 
Some  of  these  have  attended  the  Church  but  very  little  since 
the  revolution  but  still  love  her  with  all  their  hearts.  You 
would  have  smiled,  I  believe,  to  see  them  bring  in  books  in 
which  the  name  of  GEORGE  was  not  the  least  conspicuous. 
I  hope  that  I  have  been  the  means  of  rekindling  a  flame  of 
piety  and  love  to  the  Church  which  will  never  go  out  in  that 
place.  They  will  meet  soon  for  the  purpose  of  organizing 
themselves.  I  intend  to  give  them  every  attention  in  my 
power.  If  any  prayer  books  or  tracts  are  in  the  gift  of  the 
Church  they  would  do  great  good  there." 

And  in  a  letter  to  Hobart  of  the  same  date,  he  adds  these 
further  particulars: 

"When  I  go  again,  a  respectable  farmer  with  his  family 
of  nine  children  intend  to  be  baptized  with  several  others.  This 
must  be  to  me  a  great  solemnity — ^himself  being  as  old  as  my 
father." 

Just  imagine  where  the  Church  would  be  today  had  there 
been  a  hundred  men  doing  what  this  man  was  doing — boldly 
establishing  outposts  right  in  the  enemies  camp,  and  extending 
the  borders  of  the  Church  of  God  by  audacious  attacks.  Just 
imagine  what  the  Church  would  be  one  hundred  years  hence 
if  one  hundred  men  were  doing  just  that  kind  of  work  to- 
night. God  bless  all  those,  be  they  few  or  be  they  many,  who 
tonight  are  boldly  seizing  new  territory  and  annexing  it  to 
the  Church  we  say  we  love  so  much. 

The  other  letter  is  from  that  holy  and  humble  man  of 


CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   100  YEARS  AGO  75 

heart,  David  Nash — a  letter  chosen  out  of  many  such  because 
just  at  this  minute  one  hundred  years  ago,  on  the  evening 
of  Thursday,  April  30,  1812,  it  had  reached  the  hands  of  John 
Henry  Hobart  who  was  reading  it. 

*T  have  as  yet  collected  no  Money  for  the  Magazines. 
They  came  very  irregular — one  or  else  two  Numbers  are  miss- 
ing in  every  place — who  is  in  fault  for  this,  I  know  not — I 
imagine  the  Post  Masters. — When  I  come  to  New  York  I  will 
pay  for  them,  on  Condition  any  Money  is  granted  me  by  the 
Society. — I  would  send  it  now  had  I  any,  but  I  am  not  the 
possessor  of  a  single  Dollar,  only  as  I  have  borrowed  some. — 
If  you  have  any  Prayer  Books  let  me  be  remembered  for 
good. — A  year  ago  last  Autumn  I  received  four  from  the 
Bishop — for  a  number  of  years  previous  to  that  I  had  not  re- 
ceived any. — The  Bibles  and  Testaments  did  much  good. — I 
am  sensible  I  have  no  demand' — but  on  condition  you  have  any 
to  give  away  I  shall  esteem  it  a  great  favour  not  to  be  for- 
gotten.— I  have  yet  to  struggle  with  many  difficulties, — but  they 
are  light  in  comparison  to  your's — I  hope  you  may  be  enabled 
to  possess  your  soul  in  patience. — We  ought  to  do  good  to  all 
— even  our  expressions  of  disapprobation  should  be  tempered 
with  mildness." 

Imagine  if  you  can  this  faithful  soldier  of  Christ  in  his 
lonely  outpost,  and  rejoicing  that  he  received  four  prayer 
books  for  distribution,  in  the  course  of  fifteen  months!  And 
who,  without  a  dollar  in  the  world,  is  willing  that  the  cost  of 
the  Churchman's  Magazine  shall  be  deducted  from  the  next 
payment  of  his  meagre  stipend. 

When  I  picture  to  myself  this  brave  and  courageous  sol- 
dier, my  heart  goes  out  to  him  in  all  loving  tenderness,  and 
also  with  self-reproach.  He  has  joined  the  company  of  those 
spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  and  God  has  blessed  this 
whole  Church  of  ours  for  his  life  of  self-sacrifice  and  devo- 
tion, and  strangers  as  you  all  are  to  me,  I  am  confident  that 
could  I  trace  your  spiritual  genealogy,  there  are  some  here 
present  tonight  who  owe  their  spiritual  descent  to  some  souls 
won  and  saved  by  Daniel  Nash.  God  bless  every  man  who- 
ever he  is  who  is  tonight  trying  to  serve  his  Master  in  the 
same  spirit.  God  bless  him,  and  give  him  courage  to  pursue, 
though  the  Church  leave  him  unsupported,  on  the  perilous  out- 
post.   God  bless  him. 

I  have  finished  my  survey.  I  have  tried  to  sketch  for 
you  just  how  Church  and  State  stood  in  this  country,  one 
hundred  years  ago  tonight.  My  lines  may  be  too  sharp  in 
some  places,  and  blurred,  perhaps,  in  others — yet  it  is  an 
attempt  to  set  before  you  honestly  and  fairly  the  situation  on 
April  30,  t8i2,  as  I  understand  it.  The  lesson  to  us  tonight 
is  twofold. 


76  CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   100  YEARS  AGO 

Dark  as  was  the  outlook  for  the  State  a  century  ago, 
yet,  notwithstanding  the  politicians,  the  country  has  gone  for- 
ward with  a  majestic  trend.  The  stars  in  the  flag  which  then 
numbered  eighteen,  now  number  forty-eight,  but  never  in  the 
whole  history  of  the  United  States  have  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
flown  more  proudly  on  this  land,  and  on  all  seas  of  the  ocean, 
than  does  that  brave  flag  tonight.  It  speaks  of  battles  won 
and  of  victories  achieved  over  the  powers  of  baseness,  and  of 
success  in  almost  every  realm  of  human  thought  and  enter- 
prise. 

Dark  as  was  the  outlook  for  the  Church  one  hundred 
years  ago  tonight,  yet,  notwithstanding  faint  hearts  and  weak 
knees,  notwithstanding  loud-mouthed  speakers  and  those  who 
whispered  secretly  against  her,  the  Church  has  risen  to  a  nobler 
conception  of  her  duty  to  all  within  this  land  of  ours  than  she 
ever  had  before.  Never  in  her  history  have  her  devoted 
priests  and  laity  been  more  oppressed  with  the  responsibility 
of  their  inheritance  than  tonight.  Never  have  there  been  in 
her  history  a  more  pathetic  yearning  to  win  the  approval 
of  her  dear  Lord  and  Master  by  obeying  his  twofold  com- 
mand of  worship  to  God  and  love  to  man. 

The  problems  that  confront  Church  and  State  tonight  are 
far  mightier  than  those  which  confronted  them  both  a  century 
ago.  The  nation  has  solved  the  problem  of  union  which  lay 
smouldering  a  hundred  years  ago.  The  Church  has  that  prob- 
lem yet  to  solve.  But  in  all  the  problems  that  lie  before  us, 
both,  let  us  both  remember  that  victories  can  only  be  won  in 
spite  of  the  politicians  in  Church  and  State.  That  those  who 
were  faint  hearted  and  despaired  of  the  future  were  not  those 
who  fought  and  sacrificed  themselves  or  their  lives,  not  those 
who  gave  to  further  the  welfare  of  Nation  or  Church,  but  those 
who  in  selfish  ease  and  indolent  apathy  foretold  the  ruin  of 
both. 

So  tonight  the  issues  of  land  and  church  are,  believe  me, 
humanly  speaking,  in  the  hands  of  those  who  are  positive, 
determined  and  aggressive,  and  of  those  who  dare  to  act  as 
well  as  think,  who  dare  to  believe  that  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
shall  never  he  hauled  down,  no  matter  how  dark  the  hour 
may  be. 

In  the  hands  of  those  who  dare  to  believe  that  this  Church 
of  ours  is  intended  by  their  Master  to  be  the  abiding  resting 
place  of  all  Americans,  who  dare  to  believe  that  though  we 
have  been  doubtful,  disbelieving,  and  unfaithful  in  the  past 
that  God  will  give  us  and  our  children  the  courage  and  the 
wisdom  to  make  this  in  name  and  in  deed,  the  American 
Church. 

Faint  heart  never  won  anything  to  be  desired.  Faint 
heart  never  won  a  battle  or  added  a  star  to  our  flag.     Faint 


CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  AMERICA   100  YEARS  AGO  "J'J 

heart  never  pushed  forward  boldly  into  the  enemy's  land. 
Faint  heart  never  planted  the  banner  of  the  cross  nor  fought 
and  bled  to  keep  it  where  planted.  The  Church  must  take  her 
lesson  from  the  State  and  learn  to  be  imperialistic.  Never 
apologize  for  the  Church.  No  man  worth  his  salt  ever  apolo- 
gizes for  his  country.  And  God  grant  that  whoever  shall 
speak  in  my  place  a  hundred  years  hence  in  this  venerable 
parish  may  be  able  to  record  the  fruits  of  a  holy  alliance  be- 
tween Church  and  State,  of  work  braved  and  accomplished, 
of  moral,  social,  and  economic  problems  solved  by  both,  hand 
in  hand.  They  never  can  be  solved  by  either  one  indepen- 
dently. Of  capital  and  labour,  recognizing  that  they  are  but 
members  of  one  body,  that  legislation  must  not  be  for  the 
benefit  of  poHticians,  but  for  the  benefit  of  the  weak  and  ten- 
der in  the  nation,  the  woman,  and  the  child.  That  Ephraim 
in  the  State  must  not  envy  Judah  in  the  Church,  nor  shall 
Judah  vex  Ephraim. 

And  as  red,  white  and  blue  have  ever  been  the  sacred 
colors  of  the  Church  of  God,  so  shall  red,  white  and  blue  ever 
wave  over  a  united  Church  in  a  united  land. 

So  remembering  that  the  Lord  ruleth  over  all,  be  the 
people  never  so  impatient,  let  us  enter  the  coming  century  with 
a  holy  boldness  and  a  loyal  ardour  to  fight  for  land  and  church 
no  matter  what  comes,  and  with  cheers  for  the  red,  white  and 
blue,  say, 

God  save  the  Church! 

God  save  the  State! 


78  CHURCH    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 


November  8,  1912. 

The  eighth  regular  meeting  of  the  Church  Historical  So- 
ciety was  held  in  the  Neighborhood  House  of  Christ  Church, 
Philadelphia,  Friday  evening,  November  8,  1912,  the  presi- 
dent in  the  chair. 

After  the  routine  business  had  been  transacted,  Professor 
Amandus  Johnson,  Ph.D.,  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
delivered  an  address  upon  "The  Swedish  Lutherans  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  Their  Relations  to  the  Episcopal  Church."* 

After  the  conclusion  of  Professor  Johnson's  address  the 
Rev.  Snyder  B.  Simes,  rector  of  Gloria  Dei  Church,  Wicacoe, 
by  request  of  the  Society,  addressed  it  upon  the  history  of 
Old  Swedes  Church  and  its  connection  with  the  Church  in 
the  early  days  of  the  province. 


January  31,  1913. 

The  ninth  regular  and  third  annual  meeting  of  the  Church 
Historical  Society  was  held  in  the  Neighborhood  House  of 
Christ  Church,  Philadelphia,  Friday  evening,  January  31,  1913, 
the  president  in  the  chair. 

The  annual  report  of  the  Executive  Board  was  submitted. 
Contributions  to  the  Society's  collections  were  received  dur- 
ing the  year  from  the  following:  Griffin  C.  Callahan,  J,  Ed- 
ward Haverstick,  Rev.  Edward  M.  Jefferys,  D.D.,  Rev.  Ar- 
thur Lowndes,  D.D.,  Rev.  John  P.  Peters,  D.D.,  Rev.  Walter 
C.  Pugh,  Wm.  Ives  Rutter,  Jr.,  Rev.  William  Smythe,  Estate 
of  Rev.  Thomas  C.  Yarnall,  D.D.,  and  four  volumes  of  the 
Publications  of  the  Archives  Commission  of  the  General  Con- 
vention. 

It  was  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  Society 
that  the  Charter  to  be  applied  for  incorporating  the  Society, 
should  provide  for  the  election  of  a  Board  of  Managers  to 
be  composed  of  such  number  as  may  be  fixed  from  time  to 
time  by  the  By-Laws  of  the  Corporation,  it  being  understood 
that  the  plans  may  provide  for  the  exercise  of  the  powers  of 
such  Board,  in  the  recess  between  its  meetings,  by  a  standing 
committee. 


*As  Dr.  Johnson  has  incorporated  this  address  in  one  of  his  his- 
torical publications  concerning  the  Swedish  settlers  in  America  the 
Society  is  not  privileged  to  publish  it  here. 


CHURCH    HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  79 

The  annual  election  of  ofificers  resulted  as  follows: 

President — Henry  Budd,  Esq. 
Vice-President — Maj.  Moses  Veale. 
Secretary — Wm.  Ives  Rutter,  Jr. 
Treasurer — John  Thomson. 
Executive  Board  (to  serve  until  1916)  — 

Allen  Childs, 

Albert  S.  Haeseler, 

James  M.  Lamberton,  Esq. 

Rev.  Louis  C.  Washburn,  D.D.,  rector  of  Christ  Church, 
Philadelphia,  gave  a  very  interesting  talk  upon  "Local  Origins 
— Illustrated,"  the  illustrations  being  the  many  valuable  histori- 
cal relics  belonging  to  Christ  Church. 


April  22,  1913. 
The  tenth  meeting  of  the  Church  Historical  Society  was 
held  in  the  Neighborhood  House  of  Christ  Church,  Philadel- 
phia, Tuesday  evening,  April  22,   1913,  the  president  in  the 
chair. 

Following  the  transaction  of  routine  business,  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Hooper,  rector  of  the  Church  of  the  Epiphany,  Dur- 
ham, Conn.,  and  member  of  the  Archives  Commission  of  the 
Diocese  of  Connecticut,  delivered  an  address  upon  "The  Of- 
fice of  Presiding  Bishop  in  the  American  Church,  with  No- 
tices of  Its  Incumbents."* 


November  13,  1913. 

The  eleventh  meeting  of  the  Church  Historical  Society 
was  held  in  the  rooms  of  the  Church  Club  of  Philadelphia, 
Thursday  evening,  November  13,  191 3,  the  president  in  the 
chair. 

The  Rev.  C.  Braxton  Bryan,  D.D.,  rector  of  Grace 
Church,  Petersburg,  Va.,  and  principal  of  the  Bishop  Payne 
Divinity  School,  delivered  an  address  upon  "The  Beginnings 
of  the  Church  in  Virginia. "f 

The  president  stated  that  in  accordance  with  the  resolu- 
tion adopted  at  the  meeting  held  April  30,  1913,  application 
for  a  charter  had  been  made  and  the  same  granted,  bearing 
date  of  June  10,  1913,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy: 


*NoTE. — It  was  hoped  to  include  this  address  in  the  present  pam- 
phlet, but  owing  to  serious  illness  Mr.  Hooper  has  been  unable  to 
prepare  it  for  publication  in  time  for  this  issue. 

+  Note. — It  is  expected  to  include  this  address  in  the  next  issue  of 
the  Proceedings  of  the  Society. 


CHARTER  OF  THE  "CHURCH  HISTORICAL 
SOCIETY." 

To  the  Honorable  the  Judges  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas 
No.  3,  for  the  County  of  Philadelphia,  of  March  Term, 
1913,  No.  3824: 

In  compliance  with  the  requirements  of  the  Act  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  en- 
titled "An  Act  to  provide  for  the  incorporation  and  regula- 
tion of  certain  corporations,"  approved  April  29th,  A.  D.  1874, 
and  the  supplements  thereto,  the  undersigned,  all  of  whom 
are  citizens  of  Pennsylvania,  having  associated  themselves  in 
the  formation  of  a  society  for  the  purposes  hereafter  set 
forth,  and  desiring  to  be  incorporated  according  to  law,  do 
hereby  certify: 

1.  The  name  of  the  proposed  corporation  is  the  "Church 
Historical  Society." 

2.  The  purpose  of  the  corporation  is  the  preservation  and 
publication  of  historical  documents  connected  with  the  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
the  investigation  of  its  history  and  the  development  of  inter- 
est in  all  relevant  historical  research. 

3.  The  business  of  the  corporation  is  to  be  transacted  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia. 

4.  The  corporation  shall  have  perpetual  existence. 

5.  The  said  corporation  is  to  have  no  capital  stock,  the 
names  and  residences  of  the  subscribers  appear  by  their  sig- 
natures hereto. 

6.  The  said  corporation  shall  be  maintained  solely  by 
dues,  assessments  and  contributions  collected  therein. 

7.  The  directors  of  the  corporation  shall  consist  of  a 
president,  vice-president,  secretary,  treasurer,  and  nine  man- 
agers. The  number  of  managers  may,  however,  be  increased 
from  time  to  time  as  may  be  ordained  by  a  by-law  of  the  cor- 
poration duly  enacted,  and  when  so  increased  may  be,  in  like 
manner,  diminished;  provided,  that  the  number  of  managers 
shall  never  be  reduced  below  nine.  The  president,  vice- 
president,  secretary  and  treasurer,  and  one-third  of  the 
managers  shall  be  elected  by  the  members  of  the  Society  at 
a  meeting  to  be  held  in  January  of  each  year,  the  president, 
vice-president,  secretary  and  treasurer  so  elected,  to  hold  of- 
fice for  one  year,  and  the  managers  so  elected  to  hold  for 
the  term  of  three  years ;  but  a  failure  to  elect  officers  at  the 
meeting  as  above  provided  shall  not  work  a  forfeiture  ol 
the  charter  or  cause  the  corporation  to  be  dissolved,  but  offi- 

(80) 


CHARTER  OF  THE  "CHURCH  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY"  8l 

cers  and  directors  may  be  elected  at  a  meeting  of  the  Society 
subsequently  held,  notice  being  given  that  an  election  will  be 
had. 

The  officers  chosen  for  the  first  year  of  the  corporation 
are :  president,  Henry  Budd,  Philadelphia ;  vice-president, 
Moses  Veale,  Philadelphia;  secretary,  William  Ives  Rutter,  Jr., 
Philadelphia;  treasurer,  John  Thomson,  Philadelphia. 

Managers : 

To  serve  until  January,  19 14,  Arnold  Harris  Hord, 
Philadelphia ;  John  E.  Baird,  Philadelphia ;  George  Wool- 
sey  Hodge,  Philadelphia. 

To  serve  until  January,  191 5,  Henry  Riley  Gummey, 
Sewanee,  Tenn. ;  Arthur  Lowndes,  New  York  City ;  Hor- 
ace F.  Fuller,  Philadelphia. 

To  serve  until  January,  1916,  Allen  Childs,  Phila- 
delphia; Albert  S.  Haeseler,  Philadelphia;  James  M.  Lam- 
berton,  Harrisburg. 

Witness  our  hands  and  seals  this  twenty-second  day  ot 
April,  A.  D.  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  thirteen  (1913). 

John  Cadwalader,  15 19  Locust  Street,  Philadelphia. 

Rowland  Evans,  Lower  Merion,  Pa. 

M.  Veale,  509  South  Forty-second  Street. 

John  Thomson,  2101  North  Camac  Street,  Philadelphia. 

Allen  Childs,  4506  Pine  Street,  Philadelphia. 

Henry  Budd,  233  South  Thirty-ninth  Street,  Phila. 

Albert  S.  Haeseler,  3735  Walnut  Street,  Philadelphia. 

Wm.  Ives  Rutter,  Jr.,  525  South  Forty-first  Street, 
Philadelphia. 

Arnold  Harris  Hord,  244  High  Street,  Germantown, 
Philadelphia. 

Henry  Martyn  Medary,  2120  North  Eighteenth  Street, 
Philadelphia. 

G.  Woolsey  Hodge,  334  South  Thirteenth  Street,  Phila- 
delphia. 

Francis  A.  Lewis,  2207  St.  James'  Place. 

Clinton  Rogers  Woodruff,  2219  Spruce  Street. 

John  E.  Baird,  307  Real  Estate  Building. 

G.  W.  Pepper,  1730  Pine  Street. 


''     ^ss. 


Commonwealt^h  of  Pennsylvania, 
County  of  Philadelphia, 

Before  me,  the  subscriber.  Recorder  of  Deeds  in  and  for 
said  county,  personally  appeared  M.  Veale,  William  Ives  Rut- 
ter, Jr.,  Henry  Budd,  being  three  of  the  subscribers  to  the 


82  CHARTER  OF  THE  "CHURCH  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY'* 

above  and  foregoing  certificate,  and  being  all  of  them  citizens 
of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  and  in  due  form 
acknowledged  the  same  to  be  their  act  and  deed. 

Witness  my  hand  and  official  seal  this  twenty-second  day 
of  April,  Anno  Domini  1913. 

Jos.  K.  Fletcher, 
(Seal)  Deputy  Recorder  of  Deeds. 


DECREE. 

In  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  No.  3,  for  the  County  of 
Philadelphia. 

March  Term,  1913.     No.  3824. 

And  now,  to  wit,  June  loth,  A.  D.  1913,  the  above  cer- 
tificate of  incorporation  having  been  presented  to'  me,  a  law 
judge  of  said  county,  accompanied  by  due  proof  of  publica- 
tion of  the  notice  of  this  application  as  required  by  the  Act 
of  Assembly  in  such  case  made  and  provided,  I  certify  that 
I  have  perused  and  examined  said  instrument  and  found  the 
same  to  be  in  proper  form  and  within  the  purposes  named 
in  the  first  class  as  specified  in  Section  2  of  the  Act  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  ap- 
proved on  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  April,  1874,  entitled  "An 
Act  to  provide  for  the  incorporation  and  regulation  of  certain 
corporations,"  and  the  supplements  thereto,  and  the  same  ap- 
pearing to  be  lawful  and  not  injurious  to  the  community,  it 
is  hereby,  on  motion  of  William  R.  McAdam,  Jr.,  Esq., 
counsel  for  the  applicants  above  named,  ordered  and  decreed 
that  the  above  charter  be  and  is  hereby  approved,  and  that 
upon  the  recording  of  the  said  charter  and  of  this  order  the 
subscribers  to  said  charter  and  their  associates  shall  be  a 
corporation  by  the  name  of  the  "Church  Plistorical  Society," 
for  the  purposes  and  upon  the  terms  therein  stated. 

Howard  A.  Davis, 
(Seal)  Judge, 


Recorded  in  the  Office  for  the  Recorder  of  Deeds,  etc.,  in 
and  for  the  City  and  County  of  Philadelphia,  in  Charter  Book, 
No.  50,  Page  II,  etc. 

Witness  my  hand  and  seal  of  office  this  eleventh  day  of 
June,  Anno  Domini,  19 13. 

Ernest  L.  Tustin, 
(Seal)  Recorder  of  Deeds. 


The  original  constitution  now  being  superseded  by  the 
charter,  it  became  necessary  to  adopt  new  by-laws.  They  are 
as  follows : 


THE  CHURCH  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 
BY-LAWS. 

ARTICLE  I. 

The  annual  dues  of  active  members  shall  be  one  dollar. 
Members  whose  dues  remain  unpaid  for  more  than  two  years 
may  be  dropped  by  vote  of  the  board.  On  payment  of  ten 
dollars,  any  person  otherwise  eligible  to  membership  may  be- 
come a  life  member. 

ARTICLE  II. 

The  officers  of  this  Society  shall  consist  of  a  President, 
Vice-President,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  and  fifteen  Man- 
agers, who  shall  constitute  the  Executive  Board.  The  officers 
and  one-third  of  the  Managers  shall  be  nominated  at  the 
stated  meeting  in  each  year  in  October,  and  shall  be  elected 
at  the  stated  meeting  in  the  following  January.  All  vacancies 
may  be  filled  by  the  Executive  Board  until  the  next  January 
meeting  of  the  Society,  when  an  election  for  the  unexpired 
term  shall  take  place. 

The  terms  of  officers  shall  be  one  year  and  that  of  the 
Managers  three  years,  provided  that  at  the  election  in  Janu- 
ary, 1914,  in  addition  to  the  Managers  chosen  to  fill  the  places 
of  those  whose  term  then  expire,  six  Managers  shall  be  chosen 
whose  respective  terms  shall  be  determined  by  lot,  in  such 
wise  that  the  terms  of  one-third  of  the  whole  number  of  the 
Managers  shall  expire  in  January,  191 5,  one-third  in  January, 
1 916,  and  one-third  in  January,  19 17. 

ARTICLE  III. 

The  duties  of  the  several  officers  shall  be  such  as  are 
usually  incidental  to  their  offices. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

The  Treasurer,  when  required,  shall  give  bonds  in  such 
sum  as  the  Board  may  demand. 

ARTICLE  V. 

There  may  be  a  Librarian,  who  shall  be  elected  by  and 
perform  such  services  as  the  Board  shall  direct,  be  paid  such 
compensation  as  it  may  consider  just,  and  be  subject  to  dis- 
charge by  it. 

(84) 


BY-LAWS  85 

ARTICLE  VI. 

This  Society  shall  meet  in  the  months  of  October,  Janu- 
ary and  April,  at  such  time  and  place  as  the  Executive  Board 
shall  direct.  The  Executive  Board  (hereinafter  called  the 
Board),  shall  meet  on  the  call  of  the  President  or  of  any 
three  members  thereof.  Seven  of  its  members  shall  consti- 
tute a  quorum.  This  number  shall  not  be  decreased  without 
the  direction  of  the  Society. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

A  separate  fund  shall  be  created,  which  shall  be  called 
the  Endowment  Fund,  and  all  contributions  for  the  purpose 
of  procuring  a  building,  with  fireproof  facilities,  for  the  So- 
ciety, together  with  such  other  contributions  as  may  be  set 
apart  or  received  for  that  purpose  shall  be  invested,  at  con- 
venient times,  in  good  securities. 

ARTICLE  VIIL 

Such  Endowment  Fund  shall  be  managed  by  three  Trus- 
tees, who  shall  be  elected  annually  in  the  same  manner  and  at 
the  same  time  as  the  officers  of  the  Society. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

One  of  the  objects  of  the  Society  shall  be  to  collect  for 
the  Library  and  the  Cabinet  the  particulars  hereinafter  men- 
tioned, namely : 

For  the  Library. 

a.  Narratives  relating  to  dignitaries  and  benefactors  of  the 

Protestant  Episcopal  Church  and  Missions. 

b.  Biographical  notices  of  eminent  and  remarkable  persons. 

c.  Sketches  and  catalogues  of  schools,  academies  and  colleges. 

d.  Copies  of  records  of  proceedings  of  religious,  literary,  scien- 

tific or  social  bodies. 

e.  Journals  and  newspapers. 

/.  Manuscripts  on  any  subject  or  of  any  date. 

g.  Magazines  and  pamphlets. 

h.  Church  almanacs,  directories,  diaries,  etc. 

For  the  Cabinet. 

a.  Prints,  especially  of  persons,  church  buildings,  etc. 

b.  Pictures. 

c.  Medals. 

d.  Utensils. 

e.  Any  article  of  value  from  its  historical  or  biographical  af- 

finities. 


86  BY-LAWS 

ARTICLE  X. 

These  By-Laws  shall  be  subject  to  amendment  by  a  ma- 
jority vote  of  the  Society  at  any  stated  meeting,  notice  having 
been  given  of  intention  to  move  the  same  at  the  previous 
meeting. 


January  27,  1914. 

The  twelfth  regular  and  fourth  annual  meeting  of  the 
Church  Historical  Society  was  held  in  the  Neighborhood 
House  of  Christ  Church,  Philadelphia,  Tuesday  evening,  Jan- 
uary 27,  191 4,  the  president  in  the  chair. 

The  executive  Board  presented  its  annual  report  show- 
ing gifts  received  from  the  following:  Rev.  C.  Braxton 
Bryan,  D.D.,  J.  Edward  Haverstick,  Rev.  Joseph  Hooper, 
Rev.  John  S.  Littell,  D.D.,  Rev.  Alexander  Mann,  D.D.,  Rev. 
Leighton  Parks,  D.D.,  Wm.  Ives  Rutter,  Jr.,  Rt.  Rev.  Beverly 
D.  Tucker,  D.D.,  Edward  H.  Virgin,  Rev.  Louis  C.  Wash- 
burn, D.D.,  and  the  Diocese  of  Pennsylvania.  The  contribu- 
tion from  the  last  named  consisted  of  books,  pamphlets  and 
Church  periodicals,  over  five  thousand  in  number. 

The  annual  election  resulted  as  follows : 

President — Henry  Budd,  Esq. 
Vice-President — Maj.  Moses  Veale. 
Secretary — Wm.  Ives  Rutter,  Jr. 
Treasurer — ^John  Thomson^  Litt.D. 
Executive  Board  (to  serve  until  1917) — 

Rev.  Arnold  Harris  Hord, 

John  E.  Baird, 

Rev.  G.  Woolsey  Hodge. 

Additional  members  of  the  executive  board  in  accord- 
ance with  the  terms  of  the  charter : 

To  serve  until  191 5 — 

Hon.  L.  Bradford  Prince,  LL.D., 

Rev.  William  F.  Peirce,  D.D.,  L.H.D. 

To  serve  until  1916 — 

Rev.  John  Stockton  Littell,  D.D., 
Rev.  C.  Braxton  Bryan,  D.D. 

To  serve  until  191 7 — 

Rev.  George  C.  Hall,  D.D., 
Edward  Harmon  Virgin. 


The  Rev.  Daniel  Goodwin,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  of  East  Green- 
wich, R.  I.,  deHvered  the  following  address  upon  "The  Found- 
ing of  the  Church  in  New  England" : 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW 
ENGLAND,  OUTSIDE  CONNECTICUT. 

Mr.   President   Budd,    other    Officers   and  Members    of   the 
Church  Historical  Society: 

You  have  kindly  asked  me  to  tell  you  the  story  of  the 
founding  of  the  Church  in  New  England,  so  far  as  I  am 
familiar  with  it. 

When  Jackson  Kemper  was  sent  out,  nearly  four  score 
years  ago,  to  be  the  first  missionary  Bishop  in  the  North- 
west, he  exclaimed:  "A  bishop  spread  out  over  a  hundred 
thousand  square  miles  of  territory  will  make  a  very  thin 
bishop   indeed." 

But  is  it  not  still  more  obvious  that  a  speaker  of  one 
hour,  spread  out  over  the  history  of  the  founding  of  the 
Church,  in  a  province  as  extensive  as  New  England,  will, 
apart  from  all  other  deficiencies,  make  a  very  thin  speaker 
indeed?     It  will  be  only  too  easy  to  see  through  him. 

This,  however,  is  the  subject  assigned,  and  the  present 
speaker,  having  fallen  into  the  habit  of  Colonel  Newcomb, 
of  answering — all  too  readily — "Adsum,"  when  his  name  is 
called,  has  no  recourse  but  to  do  the  best  in  his  power,  with 
the  topic,  in  the  time  allotted. 

At  least,  he  may  claim  the  advantage  of  being  able,  by 
reason  of  a  long  lifetime  spent  within  the  territory  and  of 
the  performance  of  clerical  work  in  almost  every  part  of  it, 
except  Connecticut,  to  give  an  inside  view  of  the  subject. 

As  an  introduction,  will  you  kindly  give  attention  to  a 
quiet  scene  of  more  than  three  centuries  ago? 

Two  little  ships  are  described  lying  at  anchor  in  the  lee 
of  a  fir-clad  island.  Upon  a  slight  eminence,  near  the  shore, 
stands  a  cross,  formed  from  the  unhewn  trunk  of  a  tree. 
Presently  you  behold  a  number  of  light  shallops,  propelled 
by  rowers,  plying  between  the  vessels  and  the  beach,  on  which 
they  land  a  hundred  or  more  of  the  voyagers,  who  pro- 
ceed to  ascend  the  hillock,  with  a  white-robed  priest  at  their 
head.  When  all,  at  length,  stand  grouped  around  the  cross, 
you  catch  the  voice  of  the  clergyman  rising  in  prayer,  the 
people,  at  intervals,  devoutly  responding.  Then  the  Word  of 
God  is  read,  a  plain  sermon  is  preached,  and,  after  the  sing- 
ing of  a  hymn,  the  worshippers,  in  reverent  guise,  return 
to  their  ships  again. 

It  is  a  pious  act  of  simple  Christian  emigrants,  long 
tossed  on  the  sea,  but  now  rejoicing  to  be  able  to  oflfer  hom- 
age to  Jehovah,  once  more,  upon  the  solid  land. 

(88) 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND  89 

That  is  all.     But  is  it  all?  » 

Is  not  the  incident  rather  a  kind  of  solemn,  timely 
pageant,  rehearsing  the  events  which  shall  be,  long  hence  in 
the  far  future,  occurring  upon  these  now  solitary  shores, 
somewhat  as  the  Greek  chorus  used,  in  ancient  days,  to  file 
out  in  grave  procession  in  front  of  the  stage,  to  foreshow  the 
incidents  and  significance  of  the  drama  about  to  be  enacted? 

The  scene  just  now  depicted  is  laid  upon  the  coast  ot 
Maine,  off  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec  River. 

The  tiny  island  observed  has  been  dutifully  named  by  the 
voyagers,  English  as  they  are,  after  the  tutelary  saint  of  their 
homeland,  "St.  George — His  Island."  The  two  vessels  are 
the  fly-boat,  "The  Gift  of  God,"  commanded  by  George  Pop- 
ham,  and  the  good  ship,  "Mary  and  John,"  of  London, 
Raleigh  Gilbert,  captain.  The  emigrants  are  would-be  "plant- 
ers," to  the  number  of  a  hundred  and  twenty,  seeking  a 
dwelling  place  in  the  New  World. 

The  minister  is  the  Reverend  Richard  Seymour,  a  priest 
of  the  Church,  the  leaders  of  the  expedition  being  likewise 
loyal  Churchmen. 

The  service  said  at  the  foot  of  the  rude  cross  is  the  earliest 
known  use  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  upon  the  New 
England  coast,  stretching  six  or  seven  hundred  miles  from 
the  eastern  boundary  of  New  York,  on  Long  Island  Sound, 
to  the  Saint  Croix  River,  on  the  western  confines  of  New 
Brunswick. 

The  time  is  a  Sunday  in  August,  in  the  year  of  Grace 
1607,  scarcely  above  a  century  after  the  border  of  North 
America  had  been  skirted  by  the  first  adventurous  navigators 
of  those  seas,  John  Cabot,  and  Sebastian,  his  son,  and  more 
than  a  dozen  years  before  the  Plymouth  Pilgrims  will  raise 
"their  hymns  of  lofty  cheer"  on  the  wintry  Sunday,  at  Clark's 
Island,  on  the  Massachusetts  coast. 

In  view  of  all  that  this  transaction  at  "St.  George — His 
Island"  presaged  of  the  future  planting  of  the  Church  of 
Old  England  throughout  the  new  district  bearing  its  title, 
how  do  we  seem  to  hear,  above  the  voices  of  the  earthly  par- 
ticipants in  the  service,  the  morning  stars  singing  together 
and  all  God's  sons  raising  a  shout  of  joy! 

Yet  soon  the  high  hopes  of  these  settlers  were  dashed 
and  the  brave  enterprise  came  to  an  end,  the  auspicious  open- 
ing proving  but  a  harbinger  of  what  only  the  distant  future 
day  was  finally  to  bring  forth.  After  a  single  winter,  during 
which  a  few  dozen  simple  cabins  and  a  rough  chapel  had 
been  raised,  the  faint-hearted  colonists  sought  again  the  Old 
World,  and  the  work  of  planting  the  Church  on  that  western 
shore,  was  for  many  years  abandoned.  Indeed  were  one  to 
be  asked  to  give  a  history  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the 


go  THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

New  England  Colonies,  during  the  greater  part  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  he  could  substantially  embrace  it  in  the  single 
sentence,  "There  was  no  Church  of  England  in  the  New 
England  Colonies  at  that  period." 

A  minority,  it  is  true,  of  the  scattered  colonists  preferred 
the  English  Church. 

Churchmen,  singly  or  in  small  groups,  were  to  be  dis- 
covered here  and  there.  But  it  is  not  until  the  close  of  the 
century  that  we  behold  the  Church  beginning  to  assume  any 
approach  to  an  organic  form. 

It  is  convenient  to  begin  our  survey  of  the  founding  of 
the  Church  in  New  England  with  the  District  of  Maine,  both 
on  account  of  its  geographic  position  and  as  the  scene,  as  we 
have  just  been  reviewing,  of  the  first  prayer  book  service  in 
the  Province. 

MaIne. 

As  early  as  1636,  probably  through  the  influence  of  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorgas,  "the  father  of  colonization  in  America," 
the  Rev.  Richard  Gibson,  a  good  man,  learned  and  gratefully 
accepted  among  those  who  loved  the  Church  of  England, 
crossed  the  sea  to  do  the  duties  of  an  itinerant  along  the  coast 
of  Maine  and  New  Hampshire. 

A  few  years  later,  the  Rev.  Robert  Jordan,  also,  was 
sent  out  by  Robert  Trelawney,  to  his  plantation  in  Maine, 
to  minister  to  the  various  little  settlements  of  the  region. 

Perhaps  it  was  due  to  the  results  of  the  modest  labors 
of  these  two  missionaries  that  a  certain  Thomas  Jenner,  a 
Congregational  minister,  made  the  rather  odd  report  to  Gov- 
ernor Winthrop,  in  1641,  that  "The  people  of  Saco,  Maine, 
were  much  addicted  to  Episcopacy."  Episcopacy,  in  the  view 
of  this  divine,  must  have  been  similar  to  an  intoxicating  drink 
or  a  highly  deleterious  drug — the  baleful  hemp  of  India  per- 
haps— calculated  to  paralyze  the  spiritual  faculties  of  the  user. 
At  that  period,  most  of  the  leading  men  in  York,  Falmouth, 
now  Portland,  where  Mr.  Jordan  dwelt  for  thirty-six  years, 
Saco,  the  home  of  those  "addicted  to  Episcopacy,"  Scarbor- 
ough and  Kittary,  were  favorable  to  the  Church,  although 
compelled  to  support  Congregationalism.  Mr.  Bancroft  re- 
cords (Hist.  U.  S.,  I,  432)  that,  "Maine  .  .  .  was  not  ad- 
mitted to  the  Union  of  the  Colonies,  formed  in  1643,  because 
the  people  ran  a  different  course  from  the  Puritans,  in  both 
their  ministry  and  their  civil  administrations."  But,  as  has 
been  intimated,  the  labors  of  the  clergymen  and  the  inclina- 
tons  of  the  laymen  did  not  avail,  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
to  establish  the  Church  of  England  in  Maine. 

The  actual  founders  of  the  Church  there  were  two  men 
of  a  much  hter  day,  the  Rev.  Jacob  Bailey  and  Dr.  Sylvester 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND  91 

Gardiner.  It  was  not  until  1760,  in  response  to  a  petition 
of  the  people  of  Frankfort  and  Georgetown,  that  Mr.  Bailey 
arrived  among  them,  as  a  missionary  of  the  S.  P.  G.,  at  Lon- 
don, one  sent  slightly  earlier  not  having  proved  effective. 
Mr.  Bailey  was  a  New  Englander  by  birth,  and  a  graduate  of 
Harvard  College,  being  a  classmate  of  John  Adams. 

A  biography  of  him  has  been  written,  under  the  pic- 
turesque title,  "The  Frontier  Missionary."  It  recounts  very 
vividly  the  alternating  lights  and  shades  which  then  made  up 
the  life  of  a  pioneer  of  the  cross  in  the  wilderness. 

What  may  be  styled  the  "romance  of  missions"  was  il- 
lustrated more  strikingly  in  the  vast  northeastern  district  of 
New  England  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  province,  and  in 
the  career  of  Jacob  Bailey  than  in  that  of  almost  any  other 
missionary. 

For  ten  or  twelve  years  he  lived,  with  his  family,  in  an 
old  fort,  the  chapel  of  the  post  constituting  all  the  church 
he  had  there.  When,  after  that  period,  he  had  built  a  church 
at  Pownalboro,  and  removed  into  a  new  parsonage  house 
nearby,  only  one  room  in  it  was  completed,  and  he  was 
forced  to  board  the  carpenters  while  they  finished  off  another.* 

Mr.  Bailey  found  in  the  county  of  Lincoln,  which  was 
practically  his  parish,  fifteen  hundred  families  scattered  over 
a  territory  a  hundred  miles  in  length  and  sixty  miles  in 
breadth.  Traveling  was  attended  with  great  difficulty,  the 
whole  country  being  full  of  rapid  rivers  and  almost  impene- 
trable forests.  In  the  winter,  with  the  extreme  cold  and  the 
snows  sometimes  five  or  six  feet  in  depth,  moving  from  place 
to  place  was  still  more  impracticable. 

In  the  early  spring  of  the  first  year,  the  missionary  re- 
ported to  the  society  that,  notwithstanding  these  discourage- 
ments, he  had  travelled  six  or  seven  hundred  miles,  backward 
and  forward  to  preach  among  the  people  and  baptize  their 
children,  enumerating  five  principal  stations  where  he  fre- 
quently ministered. 

With  a  sort  of  winning  simplicity  he  begged  the  society 
to  send  him,  in  addition  to  prayer  books  and  catechisms,  some 
"small  pious  tracts"  for  use  among  the  poor,  or,  as  was  ex- 
pressed in  another  place,  "Bibles,  Common  Prayer  Books  and 
other  pious  tracts." 

So  sanguine  was  Mr.  Bailey  of  the  success  of  his  grand 


*Mr.  Bailey  was  always  poor,  except  in  that  best  kind  of  wealth, 
aplenty  of  children,  six  of  whom  survived  him.  One  of  them,  Charles 
Percy  Bailey,  contributed  to  the  rather  romantic  distinction  of  the  fam- 
ily, by  being  taken  under  the  patronage  of  the  Duke  of  Kent,  father  of 
Queen  Victoria,  being  given  a  commission  in  his  own  regiment  and  at 
last  falling,  with  honor,  at  the  Battle  of  Chippewa. 


92  THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

undertaking  at  Pownalboro,  that  he  proudly  declared  it  likely 
to  become  one  of  the  largest  churches  in  New  England. 

At  this  later  date,  the  town  has  disappeared  from  the 
map,  and  the  church,  which  seems  to  be  nearest  to  the  locality, 
reports  twenty-four  communicants.  Portland,  then  Falmouth, 
on  the  other  hand,  which  did  not  seem  on  the  occasion  of  his 
infrequent  ministrations,  to  have  particularly  impressed  him, 
is  now  the  principal  standpoint  of  the  Church  in  Maine,  with 
its  four  strong  parishes  and  eighteen  hundred  communicants. 
So  unstable  are  the  steps  of  the  uninspired  prophet. 

The  last  years  of  Mr.  Bailey's  services  in  Maine  were 
embittered  by  the  political  disturbances  of  the  period.  He 
considered  himself  bound  by  the  most  sacred  obligations  to 
adhere  to  the  royal  cause. 

Forbidden  to  pray  for  the  King  and  yet  persisting  in 
doing  so,  his  congregation  fell  off  and  he  was  repeatedly  sum- 
moned to  appear  before  the  Committee  of  Safety. 

To  avoid  the  fury  of  the  patriot  men-at-arms,  he  was, 
at  one  time,  obliged  to  flee  from  his  home  at  night. 

While  we  do  not,  with  our  present  light,  approve  his 
course,  we  cannot  but  sympathize  with  him  in  his  sufferings. 

After  nineteen  years  of  faithful  service  as  a  priest  in  the 
valley  of  the  Kennebec,  Mr.  Bailey  felt  compelled  to  leave 
its  well-loved  scenes  and  to  withdraw  to  Nova  Scotia.  But 
the  fruit  of  his  work  remains  and  redounds  to  his  praise  as 
one  of  the  typical  founders  of  the  Church  in  Maine.*  * 

The  lay  pioneer  referred  to  a  moment  since.  Dr.  Sylvester 
Gardiner,  was  the  founder  of  the  city  bearing  his  name  and 
the  great-great-grandfather  of  our  present  highly  respected 
leading  layman,  the  Hon.  Robert  Hallowell  Gardiner,  of 
Gardiner. 

Dr.  Gardiner  was  born  and  bred  in  Narragansett,  Rhode 
Island,  early  becoming  imbued  with  strong  Church  principles 
under  the  tutelage  of  that  stiff  old  Churchman,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
MacSparran. 

By  a  successful  professional  and  mercantile  career  in 
Boston,  he  amassed  what  was  for  the  time,  a  large  fortune, 
becoming  one  of  the  most  liberal  and  efficient  of  the  King's 
Chapel  congregation.  Some  years  previous  to  the  Revolution- 
ary War,  Dr.  Gardiner  acquired  the  possession  or  the  man- 
agership of.  large  tracts  lying  on  the  Kennebec  River  and 
extending  to  the  westward,  "not  further  than  the  coast  of  the 


*Mr.  Bailey  is  declared,  by  an  enthusiastic  chronicler  with  a  little 
pardonable  exaggeration,  to  have  endured  more  hardness  and  done 
more  real  work,  among  a  widely  scattered  people,  than  any  ten  priests, 
who  have  yet  been  in  Maine.  So  much  does  it  cost  to  plant  the  Church 
in  a  new  field. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND  93 

Pacific  Ocean,"  No  sooner  had  he  come  into  control  of  the 
territory  than  he  began  to  devise  Uberal  things  for  the  Church. 
To  Pownalboro  he  gave  the  use,  for  seven  years,  of  Rich- 
mond House  and  farm,  for  Mr.  Bailey's  improvement.  For 
building  the  church  and  parsonage  there  he  subscribed 
fifty  pounds  sterling,  and,  what  was  even  harder,  volun- 
teered to  solicit  subscriptions  from  others.  Rather  curiously, 
but  with  enlightened  liberality,  he  published,  at  his  own  sole 
expense,  an  edition  of  Bishop  Beveridge's  Sermon  on  the  Ex- 
cellency of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  distributing  the 
copies  to  a  good  purpose.  To  Gardiner's  Town,  now  Gar- 
diner, he  also  gave  a  Glebe,  built  a  church  and  parsonage,  and 
started  an  endowment,  with  an  annual  gift  of  twenty  pounds 
sterling  for  the  perpetual  support  of  an  Episcopal  minister 
at  that  point. 

It  was  a  day  of  small  things,  in  general,  the  poor  people 
paying  a  weekly  pew  tax  of  two  pence,  the  middle  class  one 
of  three  pence,  while  the  rich  families  were  taxed  four  pence 
a  Sunday.  It  was  most  fortunate,  however,  for  the  Church 
on  the  Kennebec  to  enjoy  at  such  a  time  the  leadership  of  a 
layman  so  generous,  so  earnest,  so  permeated  with  the  spirit 
of  the  Gospel,  and  so  widely  known  and  honored  in  the  so- 
cial world  of  the  day,  as  was  Dr.  Sylvester  Gardiner,  and 
right  nobly  have  five  generations  of  his  descendants  main- 
tained the  family  traditions  as  Churchmen. 

It  was  not  until  1820,  on  the  occasion  of  the  admission  of 
the  District  of  Maine  to  be  a  sovereign  state,  that  the  few 
Episcopal  churches  within  it  formed  themselves  into  a  dio- 
cese. 

In  1847,  that  remarkable  man  of  God,  George  Burgess, 
was  consecrated  first  Bishop  of  Maine,  and  labored  for  nearly 
a  score  of  years,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  with  unrivalled 
energy,  ability  and  devotion,  to  build  up  the  diocese,  but  with 
only  moderate  visible  success.  In  truth,  the  people  of  Maine, 
without  bitter,  puritanical  antagonism  to  the  Church,  simply 
do  not,  as  a  class,  want  to  be  Churchmen,  and  do  want  to  be 
Congregationalists,  and  there,  at  present,  is  the  end  of  the 
matter. 

During  Bishop  Burgess's  period  of  greatest  activity,  a 
dear  old  Congregational  minister,  of  Augusta,  too  frank  by 
half,  approached  him  with  a  rainbow  scheme  of  practical 
federation  of  churches,  to  be  illustrated  primarily  by  the  es- 
tablishment of  what  is  called  a  Union  Oiurch,  somewhere 
on  the  Kennebec. 

The  Methodists  were  to  be  assigned  a  generous  share  in 
the  efifort,  and  the  Baptists  admitted  to  the  enterprise,  while 
the  glad  hand  of  fellowship  was  held  out  for  the  contribu- 
tions of  the  few  and  struggling  Episcopalians,  all  of   them 


94  THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

joining  in  the  use  of  the  structure.  When  the  good  man  took 
breath,  after  describing  the  blessed  and  harmonious  result, 
Bishop  Burgess  inquired,  in  his  quizzical,  courteous  manner, 
"Well  now,  my  dear  Doctor,  what  do  you  suppose  will  be 
the  actual,  ultimate  issue  of  this  co-operative  undertaking?'' 
"To  open  my  heart  freely  to  you.  Bishop  Burgess,"  he  replied, 
with  engaging  candor  and  not  without  a  suppressed  twinkle 
of  the  eye,  "1  presume  the  final  outcome  will  be  the  establish- 
ment of  a  nice  little  Congregational  church." 

The  Church  is  today  comparatively  strong  in  Portland, 
the  seat  of  the  Bishop,  and  there  are  some  half  dozen  other 
strong  parishes  outside,  one  of  them  maintained  on  a  gen- 
erous scale  by  summer  residents,  whose  own  parishes  are  far 
away.  But  engaging  and  inestimably  precious  as  is  the  work 
of  the  Church  in  Maine  and  whole-heartedly  self-sacrfficing  as 
have  been  its  three  Bishops,  the  day  of  its  predominance  ap- 
pears to  be  always  retreating. 

When  Bishop  Neely  entered  upon  his  office,  in  1867,  with 
ripe  experience  and  complete  consecration,  he  soon  discov- 
ered that  there  was  still  much  land  left  to  be  possessed.  The 
solid  northern  half  of  the  Diocese  was  yet  unexplored,  in  a 
Church  point  of  view,  a  territory  twice  as  large  as  the  whole 
of  New  Jersey,  but,  of  course,  very  thinly  inhabited. 

One  of  his  first  active  steps  was  to  make  a  missionary 
journey  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  this  terra  incognita, 
beginning  with  a  course  due  north  from  Bangor  and  Oldtown, 
two  hundred  miles  on  the  Aroostook  Road,  taking  with  him 
one  of  his  clergy  and  two  laymen. 

As  they  were  to  pass  many  clear  mountain  streams  and 
had  an  eye  for  sport  as  well  as  work,  they  carried,  among 
their  paraphernalia,  a  generous  supply  of  fishing  rods.  In 
the  course  of  the  expedition  they  happened  to  lodge,  one 
night,  near  the  foot  of  Mount  Katahdin,  at  a  village  which 
boasted  a  weekly  newspaper  about  the  size  of  a  man's  hand. 
In  the  succeeding  issue  of  the  journal,  it  was  chronicled,  "Last 
Wednesday  night  there  passed  through  the  town  the  Bishop 
of  Maine  and  the  rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  Bangor,  on  a 
missionary  journey.  Judging  from  a  glance  at  their  wagons, 
we  should  not  infer  that  they  are  exclusively  fishers  of  men." 
The  Bishop  did  faithfully  angle  for  men,  as  well  as  other- 
wise, but  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  bait  was  rather 
rarely  taken. 

So  primitive  was  the  field  traveled  over  that,  in  a  no- 
tice of  a  Sunday  morning  service,  posted  beforehand  by  a 
friendly  resident,  no  hour  was  given,  but  only  the  intimation 
that  "the  meeting  would  begin  when  the  sun  should  be  about 
25^  hours  high." 

One  night  the  party  had  been  dragging  wearily  along  for 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND  95 

seven  miles  through  the  almost  pitchy  dark  forest  without 
coming  to  a  single  house,  when  a  sort  of  rough  inn  was 
reached,  with,  however,  no  ray  of  light  in  the  windows,  the 
inmates  having  long  before  entered  upon  their  slumbers. 

It  was  with  great  difficulty  that  anyone  was  aroused  or 
could  be  persuaded  to  open  the  door,  it  being  urged  that  only 
seven  miles  more  would  bring  the  benighted  company  to  the 
next  house. 

Nevertheless,  when,  on  the  following  morning,  the  hostess 
discovered  that  she  was  entertaining  a  Bishop  oi  the  Church 
of  her  birth  in  England,  she  pleaded  with  him  to  baptize  her 
numerous  young  children. 

After  the  end  of  breakfast,  a  spotless  cloth  was  laid  over 
one  end  of  the  table.  A  white  china  bowl  filled  with  water 
from  the  spring  was  set  upon  it.  Bishop  Neely  entered  the 
room,  fully  robed,  the  solemn  office  was  said,  a  half  dozen 
little  souls  were  received  into  the  Ark,  and  the  Church  was 
established  in  the  northern  half  of  Maine,  two  hundred  and 
sixty  years,  to  a  single  month,  from  the  date  when  the  initial 
use  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  in  the  southern  half  had 
occurred  at  "St.  George — His  Island,"  in  1607. 

So  long  does  it  take  to  make  a  Diocese  in  New  England. 

New  Hampshire. 

,  The  history  of  the  introduction  of  the  Church  into  New 
Hampshire,  which,  in  early  days,  included  also  V^ermont, 
may  be  said,  almost  literally,  to  have  been  embraced  in  the 
annals  of  a  single  parish,  that  of  St.  John's  Church,  Ports- 
mouth, known  before  the  Revolutionary  War  as  Queen's 
Chapel. 

The  original  settlers  of  New  Hampshire,  who  had  planted 
themselves  at  the  mouth  of  the  Piscataqua  as  early  as  1623, 
under  the  auspices  of  Mason  and  Gorges,  were,  however,  of 
the  Church,  and  even  built  there,  previously  to  1638,  a  sim- 
ple chapel  and  a  parsonage,  with  a  view  to  the  Rev.  Richard 
Gibson's  occupancy,  in  combination,  as  already  referred  to, 
with  his  ministrations  in  Maine. 

Governor  John  Winthrop  made  a  somewhat  sinister  ref- 
erence to  the  fact,  declaring  that  some  of  the  members  of 
that  settlement  were  "professed  enemies  of  the  way  of  the 
churches,"  i.  e.,  of  the  Puritan  churches. 

A  grant  of  fifty  acres  of  land  was  made  to  the  Church 
by  the  provisional  government  of  the  period,  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, in  a  deed,  by  which  it  is  still  held,  a  portion  of  the 
land  lying  in  the  compact  part  of  Portsmouth. 

The  chapel  itself,  however,  after  1640,  appears  to  have 
lapsed  into  a  meeting  house,  by  which  name  it  was  called  ever 


96  THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

after,  being  used  for  worship  by  the  Congregationalists  for 
eighteen  years.  (Batchelder's  History  of  the  Eastern  Dio- 
cese, I,  139.) 

In  1642,  Mr.  Gibson  was  banished  by  the  government  of 
Massachusetts,  to  which  New  Hampshire  belonged  until  1679, 
on  the  accusation  of  exercising  the  unauthorized  right  to  bap- 
tize and  marry.  From  that  date  all  traces  of  any  organized 
Church  life  in  Portsmouth  seem  to  have  been  suppressed  for 
nearly  a  century  by  Puritan  intolerance  and  persecution. 

In  the  early  portion  of  the  eighteenth  century,  however, 
circumstances  became  more  favorable.  Many  men  of  char- 
acter and  substance  attached  to  the  Church  of  England,  be- 
came residents  in  the  town  or  its  vicinity.  In  1732,  they 
combined  and  erected  a  church  on  the  high  ground  above  the 
Piscataqua.  The  Queen  presented  to  it  two  large  flagons,  a 
chalice,  a  paten  and  a  christening  bowl  of  solid  silver,  the 
chapel  being  called,  in  gratitude,  as  has  been  already  noted, 
Queen's  Chapel. 

One  of  the  enthusiastic  promoters  of  the  enterprise, 
whose  instruction  in  the  catechism  seems  to  have  stopped  short 
of  the  tenth  commandment,  cast  a  longing  eye  atthis  juncture 
towards  Rhode  Island,  and  permitted  himself  to  covet  the  So- 
ciety's missionary  assigned  to  Providence,  the  Rev.  Arthur 
Browne.  In  writing  to  a  gentleman  in  London,  a  certain  Cap- 
tain John  Thomlinson,  judged  to  have  considerable  influence 
with  the  S.  P.  G.,  the  Portsmouth  Churchman  lays  bare 
the  grounds  of  his  scheme  for  removing  Mr.  Browne,  and 
remarks,  after  speaking  of  Portsmouth  as  a  seaport,  the  me- 
tropolis of  the  King's  government,  "Now  Providence  being  a 
country  town  and  but  very  few  professed  Churchmen  there, 
and  those,  too,  more  in  profession  than  reality,  of  very  dif- 
ferent behaviour,  .  .  .  and  but  a  small  distance  from 
Road  Island  [meaning  Newport,  just  thirty  miles  away], 
where  there  is  a  Church  established,  and  I  believe  were  Mr. 
Browne  to  write  his  own  sentiments  he  could  give  but  a  very 
indifferent  character  of  the  people  there,  and  such  a  one  as 
would  scarce  deserve  the  Society's  care.  Besides,  as  we  have 
built  a  Church,  which  hath  already  cost  us  near,  if  not  quite, 
two  thousand  pounds,  etc."  Perhaps  it  was  not  unnatural 
that  Mr.  Browne  concluded  that  there  was  a  good  opening 
for  the  inculcation  of  Christian  charity,  at  least  in  Ports- 
mouth. In  any  case  he  accepted  the  invitation  to  the  pastoral 
care  of  Queen's  Chapel  and  remained  there  for  thirty-seven 
years,  until  his  death.  He  was  a  very  attractive  gentleman,  a 
friend  of  Bishop  Berkeley,  an  excellent  preacher  and  a  faith- 
ful parish  priest,  being  reputed  to  have  been  the  original  of 
the    "Parson,"    in    the    "Poet's    Tale,"    among    Longfellow's 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND  97 

"Tales  of  a  Wayside  Inn,"  although  the  passage  alluding  to 
him  there  seems  scarcely  to  do  him  justice: 

"The  Parson,  too,  appeared,  a  man  austere. 
The  instinct  of  whose  nature  was  to  kill; 
The  wrath  of  God  he  preached  from  year  to  year. 
And  read,  with  fervor,  Edwards  on  the  Will."* 

The  Portsmouth  layman's  notion,  in  which  there  is  no 
evidence  that  others  shared,  of  the  relative  importance  of  the 
Parson's  two  charges  has  hardly  been  borne  out  by  subse- 
quent history.  Portsmouth  has  but  a  few  thousands  of  peo- 
ple, with  two  churches,  embracing  a  little  over  five  hundred 
communicants,  at  even  the  present  day,  while  Providence  has 
reached  a  population  of  about  two  hundred  thousand,  and 
contains  above  a  dozen  churches,  with  nearly  seven  thousand 
communicants. 

One  of  the  powerful  patrons  of  Queen's  Chapel  was  Gov- 
ernor Benning  Wentworth,  a  constant  and  wise  counsellor 
and  a  member  of  the  S.  P.  G.,  his  successor,  Sir  John  Went- 
worth, being  also  concerned  in  the  welfare  of  the  parish.  By 
the  influence  of  Governor  Benning  W^entworth,  large  tracts 
of  land  in  many  towns  of  New  Hampshire  were  reserved  for 
the  endowment  of  the  Church.  With  such  parishioners  as 
gathered  around  the  new  enterprise  led  by  so  acceptable  and 
even  brilliant  a  rector,  it  is  not  surprising  that  soon  Queen's 
Chapel  became  noted,  throughout  New  England  for  the  com- 
parative splendor  and  social  prominence  of  its  congregation. 
A  clergyman  from  rural  Narragansett,  who  officiated  at  Ports- 
mouth on  a  Sunday  in  September,  1773,  set  down  in  his  Parish 
Register,  upon  his  return,  with  a  sort  of  quaint  and  bucolic 
elation,  "Preached  in  Portsmouth  Church,  which  I  found  to 
be  a  small  but  gay  and  shining  congregation  in  Respect  to 
Dress  and  Appearance."** 

Since  the  name  of  the  parish  was  changed  to  St.  John's, 
after  the  Revolutionary  War,  its  prosperity  has  continued 
ample,  one  rector,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  Burroughs,  being  at 
its  head  from  1809  to  1858,  and  a  large  share  of  the  men  of 
education  in  the  town,  among  them,  in  former  years,  Daniel 
Webster  and  Jeremiah  Mason,  being  counted  as  its  attend- 
ants and  giving  it  great  weight  in  the  Diocese. 

For  about  eighty-six  years  of  its  history  the  Church  has 


*Digest  of  the  S.  P.  G.  Records,  page  852. 

**  Would  it  not  be  entertaining  to  have  pictured  for  us,  if  possible, 
the  costumes  and  adornments,  which  thus  appear  to  have  drawn  off  the 
attention  of  the  simple-hearted  parson  from  his  own  excellent  discourse 
a  hundred  and  forty  years  ago? 


98  THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

been  served  by  only  two  rectors.  Two  other  parishes  were 
early  organized  in  New  Hampshire  in  the  western  section, 
one  at  Claremont,  about  1773,  ^^^^  ^^e  other  at  Cornish,  in 
1793,  probably  as  a  result  of  the  confonnance  to  the  Church  of 
Philander  Chase,  afterwards  the  great  pioneer  Bishop  of 
Ohio  and  Illinois,  but  born  a  Congregationalist.  The  Church 
at  Rumford,  now  Concord,  belongs  to  a  later  date.  There 
is  much  of  very  deep  interest  in  tlie  history  of  these  parishes 
and  in  the  establishment  of  the  great  school,  St.  Paul's,  at 
the  latter  place,  giving  to  the  Diocese  its  chief  present  at- 
traction, the  Church  in  New  Plampshire,  although  vigorous 
and  churchly,  never  having  attained  great  size,  even  under 
the  devotion  and  zeal  of  its  most  excellent  Bishops. 

Massachusetts. 

If  the  Advent  of  the  Church  in  Maine  was,  as  has  been 
seen,  like  a  tranquil  dawn,  its  introduction  into  Massachusetts 
bore  a  far  different  aspect. 

More  aptly  might  it  be  compared,  with  the  opposition  it 
there  met,  to  the  storming  of  a  grim  fortress,  where  every 
gate  had  been  bolted  and  barred  and  every  bridge  drawn  up. 
The  Puritans  were  in  almost  absolute  possession  of  Boston 
during  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  holding  the 
civil  power  as  well  as  the  spiritual,  and  they  intended  to  re- 
main so.  There  was  no  face  of  the  organized  Church  of 
England  in  the  Colony  until  about  1679.  Neverthless,  the 
situation  was  not  as  simple  as  it  might  appear.  By  no  means 
all  inside  that  stronghold  had  lost  their  love  for  the  Church 
of  their  youth.  The  Puritans  had  driven  out  the  Church 
through  the  door,  but  it  had  come  back  through  the  window. 
Some  of  them  were  half  ready  to  undo  the  bars  and  draw 
back  the  bolts  of  the  castle.  There  were  furtive  spiritual 
traitors  within  the  walls.  From  many  a  figuratively  grated 
window  was  whispered  beneath  the  breath,  "Sing  us  one  of 
the  songs  of  Zion !"  The  last  thing  desired  or  intended  by 
the  Royal  Commission  promoting  the  Colony,  was  that  it 
should  be  occupied  by  an  exclusively  Puritan  personnel. 

Steadily  the  London  adventurers  and  the  Council  of  New 
England  favored  the  emigration  of  those  of  milder  views  of 
religion.  The  Rev.  John  Robinson,  an  arch-Puritan,  indeed, 
but  recognized  as  "the  most  learned,  polished  and  modest 
spirit,  that  ever  separated  from  the  Church  of  England,"  took 
the  liveliest  interest  in  the  plan,  for  emigration  to  America 
and  was  active  in  negotiations  with  the  Virginia  Company. 
But  he  himself  was  never  permitted  to  follow  his  flock  to 
Massachusetts.     He  wrote  to  Brewster,  in  1623,  "I  persuade 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND  99 

myself  that,  for  me,  they,  of  all  others,  are  unwilling  I  should 
be  transported,"  and  he  never  came.  There  was,  however,  a 
call  for  numerous  emigrants.  Comparatively  few  Churchmen 
cared  to  venture  their  fortunes  in  the  New  World.  They  had 
no  motive  for  leaving  England.  Vast  numbers  of  those  of 
Puritan  tendencies,  however,  harassed  by  ecclesiastical  con- 
ditions at  home  thought  they  saw  relief  and  happiness  in  New 
England  and  they  formed  a  great  majority  of  the  settlers. 
But  many  of  even  them  were  not  out  and  out  separatists, 
after  all.  They  could  not  bear  to  cut  the  last  rope.  Win- 
throp  himself  was  a  communicant  member  of  the  Church  as 
long  as  he  remained  in  England  and  united  in  an  affectionate 
farewell  to  it  on  his  departure. 

Francis  Higginson,  when  leaving  his  native  shore,  ex- 
claimed to  the  assembled  passengers,  "We  will  say,  'Farewell, 
dear  England.  Farewell,  the  Church  of  England.'  .  .  . 
We  do  not  go  to  New  England  as  separatists  from  the  Church 
of  God  in  England,  although  we  cannot  but  separate  from  the 
corruption  of  it." 

There  were  many  who,  in  their  personal  experience,  il- 
lustrated the  favorite  and,  perhaps,  somewhat  sentimental 
apologue,  "The  Changed  Cross."  Turned  against  the  Church 
by  the  despotic  attitude  of  the  King  and  the  proscriptive  pol- 
icy of  land,  they  fancied  they  should  find  rest  for  their  souls 
from  their  heavy  cross  in  the  Congregational  order  and  form 
of  worship.  But  when  they  wearied  of  that,  too,  and  dis- 
covered thorns  beneath  the  roses  which  twined  around  their 
new  cross,  they  chanced,  at  length,  upon  a  form  just  suited 
to  their  needs  and  just  what  they  could  bear,  and,  lo !  their 
eyes  were  opened  and  they  saw  their  own  dear  old  Church 
itself  which  had  been,  for  a  season,  deserted  and  despised. 

Even  William  Blackstone,  who,  of  course,  never  thought 
of  separating  from  the  Church  but  still  had  been  sufificiently 
galled  to  be  caused  to  emigrate,  found  that  there  was  human 
nature  in  the  saints  who  joined  him  at  Boston,  as  well  as  in 
the  ecclesiastical  magnates  whom  he  had  fled  from  England 
to  be  rid  of,  exclaiming,  as  has  been  so  often  quoted,  "I  left 
England  because  of  my  dislike  of  the  Lord  Bishops,  but  now 
I  do  not  like  the  lord  brethren,"  and  again  folded  his  tent 
and  found  in  Rhode  Island,  as  an  anchorite,  the  peace  his 
soul  loved.  It  is  an  error  to  judge  the  men  of  that  time 
harshly.  They  lived  in  days  of  great  spiritual  disturbance. 
The  ecclesiastical  equilibrium  in  England  was  thoroughly  un- 
settled. Nobody  was  wholly  to  blame.  Great  problems  of 
the  mind  and  heart  were  clamoring  to  be  worked  out.  A  new 
field  for  the  conflict  needed  to  be  provided.  Now  that  the 
fight  is  mainly  over  and  the  smoke  has  been  blown  away,  the 


lOO         THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

air  seems  all  the  clearer  and  no  one  deeply  regrets  that  the 
battle  was  set  in  array.* 

Puritans  and  Churchmen  all  were  men  in  earnest.  Both 
parties  believed  themselves  in  the  right.  In  a  sense,  they 
were  both  in  the  right,  because  they  sincerely  believed  so. 
We  are  often  warned  that  two  wrongs  do  not  make  a  right. 
No  less  true  is  it  that  two  opposing  rights,  even  very  differ- 
ent ones,  do  not  always  make  a  wrong.  Most  of  the  bitterness 
and  strife  of  the  world  has  arisen  from  overlooking  the  prin- 
ciple that  in  a  conflict  of  honest  convictions,  both  parties  may 
be  at  root  correct. 

In  the  case  in  hand  our  sympathies  are,  of  course,  heartily 
with  the  Churchmen.  But  if  the  native  New  Englanders  of 
today  have  any  iron  in  their  blood,  we  must  remember  that  it 
is  because  they  are  descended  from  such  sturdy  old  Puritans 
as  John  Endicott  and  John  Winthrop  and  John  Cotton. 

The  earliest  attempt  of  which  we  are  informed  to  plant 
the  Church  in  Massachusetts  was  in  1623.  In  that  year,  the 
Rev.  William  Morrell,  an  ordained  clergyman,  came  with  Cap- 
tain Robert  Gorges,  and  lived  for  a  while  at  Weymouth,  on 
the  south  shore,  being  entrusted  with  a  rather  ill-advised  com- 
mission from  the  Ecclesiastical  Court  to  "exercise  a  kind  of 
superintendence  over  the  churches  which  are  or  may  be  es- 
tablished in  New  England." 

He  found,  outside  of  Plymouth,  where  there  was  natur- 
ally no  urgent  demand  for  his  services,  few  inhabitants  ex- 
cept Indians  and  no  churches  at  all,  to  submit  to  his  quasi- 
episcopal  authority. 

One  of  the  grim  Puritans  of  the  day  remarked  quite 
aptly,  "Mr.  Morrell  did  well  not  to  open  his  commission  until 
there  appeared  a  subject-matter  to  work  vipon."  But  no 
"subject-matter"  offering,  he  quite  philosophically  wrought  the 
result  of  his  Colonial  observations  into  a  very  fair  Latin  poem 
and  resailed  for  England  or  otherwhere.  It  is  believed,  with- 
out absolute  evidence,  that  Blackstone,  gentleman,  scholar  and 
long  sole  occupant  of  Shawmut  peninsula,  came  as  a  com- 
panion of  Morrell.  In  1629  the  two  Browns,  John  and  Sam- 
uel, members  of  the  Council  of  Massachusetts  Bay  Company, 
as  well  as  staunch  Churchmen,  arrived  in  Salem  and  began 
to  meet  in  a  private  house,  with  a  few  others,  for  worship  in 


*The  Puritans  believed  themselves  victims  of  oppression  and  perse- 
cution, on  the  part  of  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  of  England.  But, 
when  at  length  they  found  themselves  in  the  saddle,  in  Boston,  they 
did  not  dream  of  granting  the  few  Churchmen  among  them,  such  free- 
dom as  they  had  so  bitterly  complained  of  being  denied.  The  fact  is, 
that  neither  Puritans  nor  Churchmen,  in  that  age,  had  learned  the  lesson 
of  soul  liberty.  But  it  has  now  passf'd  into  a  common  place,  thanks  very 
much  to  that  very  combat. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND         lOI 

the  manner  of  the  Church  of  England.  Finding  these  two 
brothers  to  be  particularly  high  spirited  and  their  speeches 
and  practices  tending,  as  Governor  Endicott  claimed,  to  mu- 
tiny and  faction,  he  told  them  roundly  that  New  England  was 
no  place  for  such  as  they  and  deported  them  to  the  Old  World, 
it  being  nearly  a  century  before  any  considerable  number 
of  Churchmen  were  gathered  again  in  the  town  of  Salem. 
Before  1630,  there  were  somewhat  numerous  settlers  in 
Massachusetts,  known  as  the  "Old  Planters,"  such  as  Mav- 
erick, Conant  and  Woodbury,  who  held  firmly  to  the  Church 
of  England,  and  were  scrupulous  in  having  their  children  bap- 
tized by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lyford,  an  Irish  clergyman  of  Puritan 
tendencies,  but  not  a  separatist,  who  came  to  Plymouth  in 
1624,  and  removed  into  Virginia  in  1627,  in  response  to  a 
"loving  invitation,"  not  receiving,  it  appears,  "a  like  loving 
invitation"  to  remain  at  Plymouth. 

In  1646,  "A  Remonstrance  and  Humble  Petition,"  i.  e., 
conventionally  humble,  against  Puritan  repression  and  intol- 
erance was  presented  to  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts, 
promoted  by  William  Vassall,  of  Scituate,  called  "a  man  to  be 
feared,"  and  signed  by  seven  gentlemen,  notably  Samuel  Mav- 
erick and  David  Yale,  a  vigorous  Churchman,  a  grandson  of 
Thomas  Morton,  Bishop  of  Durham,  and  father  of  the  fa- 
mous Eli,  or  Elihu,  Yale.  Mr  .Yale  thus  incurred  the  cen- 
sure of  the  General  Court  for  "meddling  in  other  people's 
business,"  and  is  said  to  have  taken  refuge  with  Roger 
Williams,  being  believed  to  have  been  the  first  Churchman 
ever  living  in  Providence. 

Elihu,  his  son,  born  in  Boston,  or  its  vicinity,  was  only 
three  years  old  when  the  family  returned  to  England.  He,  too, 
was  almost  certainly  a  Churchman,  being  recorded  as  a  gen- 
erous contributor  to  the  S.  P.  G.  It  was  rather  in  his  capacity 
as  a  native  of  New  England  than  on  account  of  any  especial 
sympathy  with  Congregationalism,  that  out  of  a  large  for- 
tune acquired  during  his  governorship  in  the  East  Indies,  he 
made  his  memorable  gift  to  the  New  Collegiate  School  at 
Saybrook,  which  later  developed  into  Yale  College. 

The  cosmopolitan  character  of  Governor  Yale's  life  is 
illustrated  by  the  curious  inscription  on  his  tomb  in  Wales : 

Born  in  America,  in  Europe  bred, 
In  Af  ric  travelled  and  in  Asia  wed. 

When  Charles  II  came  to  the  throne,  at  the  Restoration, 
in  1660,  measures  were  taken  in  favor  of  the  Church,  lead- 
ing to  higher  hopes  in  Massachusetts.  An  agent  of  the  Gen- 
eral Court,  deprecatingly  reported  in  T.ondon  that  "Episco- 
pacy, Common  Prayer,  bowing  at  the  Name  of  Jesus,  sign  of 


I02         THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

the  Cross  in  Baptism,  the  Altar  and  organs  are  in  use,  and 
hke  to  be  more." 

Two  years  later,  in  1662,  the  King,  in  replying  to  an  ad- 
dress of  the  General  Court,  especially  provided  for  the  griev- 
ances of  Churchmen,  by  charging  it  to  allow  liberty,  "so  that 
they  that  desire  to  use  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  .  .  . 
be  not  denied  the  exercise  thereof." 

About  1679  a  considerable  number  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Boston  petitioned  King  Charles  II  that  a  Church  might  be 
allowed  in  that  city  and  in  form  the  plea  was  granted,  al- 
though nothing  practical  appears  to  have  been  immediately 
done.  But,  in  1684,  the  charter  of  the  Colony  was  declared 
by  the  High  Court  of  Chancery  to  be  forfeited,  and,  in  1686, 
a  new  order  of  government  was  established,  the  practical 
result  being  that  the  members  of  the  Church  of  England  were 
enfranchised.  In  the  spring  of  that  same  year,  Joseph  Dud- 
ley, himself  an  independent,  but  friendly  to  the  Church,  came 
into  power,  as  President  of  New  England.  He  was  accom- 
panied by  the  Rev.  Robert  Radcliffe,  a  clergyman  of  the 
Church  of  England. 

The  times  were  now  ripe  for  the  establishment  of  the 
Church.  Although  Mr.  Radcliffe  appeared  to  have  had,  in 
so  large  a  degree,  the  ■  countenance  of  the  government,  the 
use  of  any  of  the  three  meeting  houses  of  Boston  was,  at 
first,  denied  him,  the  east  end  of  the  Town  house  and  later 
<^he  Exchange  being  offered  to  him  as  places  to  preach  in. 
But  the  day  soon  came  when,  in  a  way  to  be  regretted,  the 
employment  of  the  Congregational  meeting  houses  was  in  a 
manner  commandeered  rather  than  patiently  pleaded  for.  Sir 
Edmund  Andros  soon  succeeded  President  Dudley  and  im- 
mediately sought  for  the  opening  of  one  of  the  three  meeting 
houses  for  the  purpose  of  worship  according  to  the  usage  of 
the  Church  of  England. 

On  March  23,  1687,  the  crisis  came.  Andros  demanded 
the  keys  of  the  south  meeting  house,  so  that,  as  he  put  it, 
"they  might  say  their  prayers  there."  On  March  25th,  the 
government  took  possession  of  the  house  and  had  the  Good 
Friday  service  held  in  it ;  so  great  was  the  change  of  rela- 
tions since  forty  years  before,  when  David  Yale  was  censured 
by  the  General  Court  for  "meddling  in  other  people's  busi- 
ness," by  protesting  against  Puritanical  intolerance,  and  driven 
to  Rhode  Island. 

It  is  quaintly  recorded  that  "Goodman  Needham,  tho'  had 
resolved  to  the  contrary,  was  prevailed  upon  to  ring  ye  bell 
and  open  ye  door,  at  ye  Governor's  command." 

Sunday,  March  27th,  being  Easter,  the  Governor  again 
occupied  the  same  place  and  had  the  full  service.  Judge 
Sewall  ruefully  records  that  they  "met  at  11,  and  broke  off 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND         IO3 

past  2  because  of  ye  Sacrament  and  Mr.  Clarke's  long  sermon, 
though  we  were  appointed  to  come  half  hour  past  one;  so 
'twas  a  sad  sight  to  see  how  full  ye  street  was  with  people 
gazing  and  moving  to  and  fro,  because  had  not  entrance  into 
ye  house." 

That  was  the  high-handed  and  inauspicious  way  in  which 
Church  services  were  inaugurated  in  Boston. 

It  was  on  June  15th  of  that  same  year,  1686,  that  King's 
parish  was  organized,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Radcliffe  being  recog- 
nized as  minister,  or  rector,  some  of  the  Puritans  amiably 
nicknaming  his  "Baal's  priest"  and  even  from  the  pulpit  stamp- 
ing the  prayers  of  the  prayer  book,  "leeks,  garlic  and  trash." 
In  1688,  a  plain  church  of  wood,  the  first  Episcopal 
Church  in  Massachusetts,  was  built  on  part  of  the  ground 
still  occupied  by  King's  Chapel,  at  a  cost  of  two  hundred  and 
eighty-four  pounds  sterling,  the  first  service  in  it  being  held  in 
Jime,  1689.  '  The  present  venerable  stone  chapel  was  opened 
for  divine  service  in  August,  1754,  one  hundred  pounds  ster- 
ling having  been  contributed  towards  its  construction  by  the 
S.  P.  G.,  appropriations  for  the  support  of  the  rector  having, 
however,  been  previously  declined  by  the  Society. 

The  edifice  was  designed  by  Peter  Harrison,  the  favor- 
ite Newport  architect  of  the  day,  its  lovely  and  graceful  in- 
terior being  doubtlessly  suggested  by  that  of  Trinity  Church, 
in  his  own  city,  where  he  had  long  sat  as  a  worshipper  and 
which  is  said  itself  to  have  been  modelled  on  the  ancient  St. 
James's  Church,  Picadilly. 

The  resignation  of  Mr.  Radcliffe  soon  after  the  opening 
of  the  first  chapel  was  followed  by  the  election  of  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Myles,  who  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Roger  Price 
and  the  Rev.  Henry  Caner.  During  Mr.  Myles's  rectorship 
of  thirty-nine  years,  the  members  of  the  congregation  were 
reported  as  six  hundred  and  communicants  one  hundred  and 
twenty. 

The  unhappy  circumstances  attending  the  transfer  of 
King's  Chapel  to  the  Unitarians,  soon  after  the  Revolutionary 
War,  cannot  be  dwelt  upon  here.  It  is  impossible,  however, 
to  escape  noticing  that  the  one  church  which  was  established 
with  a  high  hand  and  depended  for  its  early  existence  upon 
the  fiat  of  the  royal  governor,  should  have  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  an  heretical  body  and  been,  for  a  century  and  a 
quarter  the  scene  of  the  use  of  an  emasculated  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer,  almost  suggesting  a  thought  of  the  solemn  pro- 
nouncement, "They  that  take  the  sword  shall  perish  with  the 
sword." 

Nor  can  it  be  doubted  that  the  period  is  approaching  when 
this  antique  structure  will  be  gladly  and  voluntarily  restored 
to  its  original  use,  just  as  the  day  will  surely  come,  too,  in 


I04         THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

the  evolution  of  public  honesty  and  honor,  when  the  British 
nation  will  carry  back  the  Elgin  marbles  from  the  Museum  to 
the  Acropolis. 

By  1722  it  was  recognized  that  King's  Chapel  was  not 
large  enough  to  accommodate  all  the  inhabitants  of  Boston, 
who  desired  to  attend  the  Church  of  England. 

A  new  house  of  worship,  of  brick,  was  therefore  erected 
at  the  north  end  of  the  city,  during  1723,  and  named  Christ 
Church.  From  the  outset  it  had  a  large  congregation,  seven 
or  eight  hundred  attendants,  a  few  years  after  its  opening, 
it  being  especially  recorded  that  on  Christmas  day,  1744,  it 
was  thronged  with  dissenters.  The  old  North  Church  steeple 
has  become  famous  from  being  the  scene  of  the  hanging  out 
of  the  signal  lanterns — 

"one  if  by  land,  and  two  if  by  sea," — 
at  the  time  of   "Paul  Revere's  Ride,"   the  whole  venerable 
building  looking  today  much  as  it  did  two  centuries  ago. 

In  a  half  dozen  years.  King's  Chapel  again  overflowed 
and  steps  were  taken  for  the  building  of  Trinity  Church,  its 
corner-stone  being  laid  in  1734.  This  soon  became  the  prin- 
cipal church  in  the  city  and  has  numbered  among  its  rectors 
at  least  five  who  were  or  have  become  bishops. 

A  very  different  day  had  dawned  in  Boston,  the  Puritan 
stronghold,  when  three  strong  parishes  of  the  Church  were 
founded  in  it,  in  the  course  of  about  forty  years. 

It  is  related  that  when  a  fourth  church,  St.  Paul's,  was 
proposed,  the  Trinity  rector  of  the  day  exclaimed,  on  hear- 
ing of  it,  in  a  manner  which  showed  at  once  the  great  change 
in  the  social  status  of  the  Church  since  primitive  Colonial  times, 
and  a  rather  singular  conception  of  the  proper  object  of 
churches  in  any  wise :  "A  new  church  in  Boston !  What  call 
is  there  for  a  new  church?  Isn't  Trinity  large  enough  for 
all  the  gentlemen  in  Boston?" 

At  the  time  of  the  chartering  of  the  S.  P.  G.,  1701,  there 
was  no  church  in  Massachusetts  outside  the  town  of  Boston. 
But  soon  afterwards,  in  the  section  around,  where  many 
inhabitants  were  attached  to  the  Church  of  England  and  ready 
to  welcome  its  services,  churches  sprang  up,  each  interesting 
and  important  enough  to  be  worthy  of  a  detailed  description, 
but  necessarily  to  be  dismissed  here  with  a  bare  mention  of  the 
name — St.  Paul's  Church,  at  first  called  St.  Anne's  Chapel, 
Newburyport,  where  Bishop  Bass  ministered  for  fifty  years — 
St.  Michael's  Church,  Marblehead,  where,  on  account  of  pov- 
erty, there  were  frequent  changes  of  pastor,  the  Puritan  minis- 
ter, Mr.  Barnard,  settled,  of  course,  for  life,  jotting  down 
jeeringly  in  his  diary  that  Marblehead  must  be  a  very  salu- 
brious locality,  inasmuch  as  no  rector  of  St.  Michael's  ever 
died  there — Christ  Church,  Braintree,  now  Quincy,  the  scene 
of  Dr.  Ebenezer  Miller's  labors — St.  Andrew's  Church,  Scitu- 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND         I05 

ate,  where  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Thompson  so  long  ministered — 
St.  Peter's  Church,  Salem,  whence  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brockwell, 
missionary  of  the  S.  P.  G.,  wrote,  in  elation,  June  30,  1739, 
that  he  "was  received  with  great  joy  and  found  a  handsome, 
well-furnished  church,  with  the  Ten  Commandments  in  golden 
letters  upon  black,  and  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Creed  in 
black  letters  upon  gold,  at  the  Communion  Table" — St. 
Thomas's  Church,  Taunton — Christ,  later  St.  Paul's,  Church, 
Dedham — and  Christ  Church,  Cambridge,  with  another  of 
Peter  Harrison's  creations  for  its  church,  which  was  styled 
by  the  missionary,  the  Rev.  East  Apthorp,  "decently  elegant." 

The  mention  just  now  of  St.  Andrew's  Church,  Scituate, 
built  in  1731,  on  "Church  Hill,"  suggests  an  incident  which, 
although  it  occurred  several  years  previously,  may  have  had 
some  connection  with  the  inception  of  the  church  movement 
in  the  town  and,  at  least,  illustrates  the  original  attitude 
prevailing  towards  the  Church  of  England.  In  the  latter  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  young  William  Wanton,  whose 
father  was  a  prominent  Quaker  of  Scituate,  fell  in  love  with 
Miss  Ruth  Bryant,  a  daughter  of  an  equally  decided  Congre- 
gationalist. 

Religious  objections  against  the  match  arising  on  both 
sides,  threatening  to  bring  it  to  an  end,  the  impatient  swain 
exclaimed  to  his  lady  love,  "Friend  Ruth,  let  us  break  from 
this  unreasonable  bondage.  I  will  give  up  my  religion  and 
thou  shalt  give  up  thine,  and  we  will  go  over  to  the  Church 
of  England  and — go  to  the  devil  together," — a  proposition 
which  they  proceeded  literally  to  carry  out — that  is,  the  first 
part  of  it. 

They  adhered  all  their  lives  to  the  Church  of  England,  in 
Newport,  whither  they  removed,  and  brought  up  in  it  their 
nine  children,  the  Wantons  being  the  most  powerful  family 
of  its  day  in  the  Rhode  Island  Colony,  five  of  them  becoming  its 
governors. 

As  years  went  on  many  of  the  religious  asperities  of 
Massachusetts,  of  the  earlier  period,  appear  to  have  been 
smoothed  down.  Times  grew  milder.  On  one  occasion  it 
is  recorded  that  a  considerable  portion  of  the  congregation 
of  Christ  Church,  Boston,  consisted  of  "dissenters,  decent 
and  composed."  In  one  section  after  another  the  requirement 
that  Churchmen  should  be  taxed  for  the  support  of  the  Puri- 
tan clergy  was  relaxed.  Governor  Dudley,  who,  although  an 
Independent,  seems  always,  as  has  been  already  noted,  to  have 
had  a  friendly  feeling  for  the  Church,  gave  it  as  his  opinion 
that  certain  petitioners  of  Newbury  Church  "ought  not  to  be 
taxed  or  imposed  upon  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of 
any  other  public  worship  in  the  said  town." 


I06         THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

The  casting  into  prison  of  certain  reputable  citizens  of 
Bristol,  now  Rhode  Island,  but  then  included  in  Plymouth 
Colony,  for  refusing  to  pay  imposts  for  the  salary  of  the 
Congregational  minister,  aroused  such  indignation  as  hindered 
its  repetition. 

One  Puritan  magistrate  called  upon  to  certify  to  the 
churchmanship  of  a  citizen  who  claimed  to  be  free  from 
maintaining  the  "Standing  Order"  (it  was  in  Connecticut), 
is  related  to  have  shown  his  humor,  good  or  otherwise,  by 
inditing,  "The  bearer  of  this,  John  Smith,  having  taken  oath 
that  he  has  abjured  the  Christian  religion  and  joined  the 
Episcopal  Church,  is  hereby  relieved  from  the  payment  of  the 
regular  rates." 

In  what  contrast  to  that  day  of  small  things  for  the 
Church,  when  it  was  forced  to  fight  its  way  for  existence, 
stands  an  impressive  scene  enacted,  on  a  very  recent  date, 
in  Boston. 

The  time  is  the  sixth  day  of  October,  in  the  autumn  just 
closed,  1913.  A  procession  is  beheld  issuing  from  a  large 
steeple-crowned  edifice  at  the  head  of  Boston  Common,  and 
marching  along  the  elm-arched  mall  to  a  stately,  columned 
structure  across  the  street,  on  the  left.  At  the  head  of  the 
line  walks  a  vested  cross-bearer.  In  the  procession  are  seen 
white-robed  choristers,  students  in  black  gowns,  a  great  num- 
ber of  clergy  wearing  surplices  and  many-colored  hoods,  and 
one  commanding  figure,  most  marked  of  all,  clad  in  Episcopal 
vestments.  It  is  the  Bishop  of  Massachusetts  with  his  clergy 
proceeding  to  his  Cathedral  Church  to  sing  a  Te  Deum  in 
grateful  recognition  of  the  completion  of  twenty  years  since 
his  consecration.  On  each  side  are  massed  crowds  of  citi- 
zens, respectful  and  sympathetic,  swift  to  show  honor  to  one 
whom  all  love.  The  very  building,  which  has  been  freely 
and  gladly  offered  for  the  robing  place  of  the  procession 
and  as  its  starting  point,  is  most  significant  of  the  wonder- 
ful transformation  wrought  since  the  day  when  Churchmen 
were  shut  out  of  every  meeting  house  in  Boston  and  com- 
pelled to  gain  admission  by  the  strong  arm  of  the  civil  law. 
It  is  the  Park  Street  Church,  long  almost  the  latest  citadel 
of  Puritanic  domination,  the  location  being  popularly  styled, 
by  reason  of  the  stifif  Calvanism  preached  in  the  structure, 
"Brimstone  Corner."  No  longer  are  the  adherents  of  the 
Church  a  mere  handful  of  people,  grudgingly  tolerated. 
Rather  do  they  enjoy  an  almost  perilous  degree  of  prosperity, 
as  the  predominant  religious  body  in  the  city. 

A  recent  census  of  all  that  large  section  lying  west  of 
the  Public  Garden  and  filled  with  the  residences  of  the  lead- 
ing citizens,  has  disclosed  the  fact  that  a  far  greater  number 
of  its  families  attend  the  Episcopal  Church  than  any  other. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND         IO7 

The  faithful  Diocesan  can  reflect  as  he  enters  his  Cathe- 
dral today,  to  the  sound  of  the  exultant  Ambrosian  Hymn, 
that  in  Greater  Boston  he  has  under  his  cure  thirty-five 
churches,  embracing  more  than  fifteen  thousand  communi- 
cants, and  in  his  whole  Diocese  one  hundred  and  ninety-one 
parishes  and  missions,  with  forty-nine  thousand  communi- 
cants, while  the  entire  State,  until  lately  wholly  under  the 
charge  of  the  Bishop  of  Massachusetts,  contains  two  hundred 
and  fifty-two  parishes  and  missions  and  sixty-three  thousand 
communicants.  So  literally  has  the  little  one  become  a 
thousand. 

Rhode  Island.* 

The  introduction  of  the  Church  into  Rhode  Island  was 
almost  as  dissimilar  from  its  founding  in  the  northern  part 
of  New  England  as  if  the  two  sections  had  been  situated  in 
different  parts  of  the  world,  instead  of  being  separated  by 
only  a  narrow  river.  Except  in  Bristol,  then  a  part  of  Ply- 
mouth Colony,  Churchmen  had  no  large  numbers  of  Puritan 
neighbors  to  "molest  them  or  make  them  afraid."  The  Chris- 
tian bodies  predating  them  in  the  Colony  were  chiefly  either 
Quakers,  who  evinced  little  antagonism  to  the  Church,  or 
Baptists,  who  were  precluded  by  the  proclamation  of  religious 
freedom,  on  the  part  of  their  leader,  Roger  Williams,  from 
evincing  any  at  all. 

There  were  established  in  Rhode  Island  about  the  be- 
ginning of  the  eighteenth  century,  four  parishes  of  the 
Church  possessing  considerable  strength,  no  other  one,  able 
to  endure,  being  added  for  nearly  a  century.  These  four, 
however,  stood  firm,  like  an  invincible  strategic  quadrilateral, 
in  the  four  quarters,  north,  south,  east  and  west,  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, through  all  the  commotions  of  the  Revolution  and 
the  succeeding  period  of  exhaustion,  and  remain  in  undimin- 
ished vigor  to  the  present  day. 

It  is  not  possible  to  assert  when,  after  the  period  of  the 
settlement  of  Newport,  there  were  not  Churchmen  in  that 
town.  It  was  in  1698,  only  two  years  subsequently  to  the 
organization  of  Trinity  Church,  New  York,  that  services 
according  to  the  English  Book  of  Common  Prayer  began  to 
be  held  in  the  seaport  of  Rhode  Island.  The  instrument  to 
whom  this  step  was  chiefly  due,  was  Sir  Francis  Nicholson, 
successively  royal  Governor  or  Lieutenant-Governor  of  New 
York,  Virginia  and  Maryland,  credited  in  an  ancient  docu- 
ment  with   being   "the   original   founder   and   first   principal 


*0f  Rhode  Island,  the  exhaustion  of  the  time,  at  our  disposal,  for- 
bids the  taking  of  more  than  a  cursory  view. 


I08         THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

patron  of  Trinity  Church,  Newport."  There  is  evidence  that 
Queen  Anne  charged  Sir  Francis  to  inquire  into  the  condition 
of  American  churches. 

Among  the  resident  promoters  of  the  undertaking  were 
Gabriel  Bernon,  a  well-known  French  Protestant  refugee; 
Pierre  Ayrault,  also  a  Huguenot;  William  Brinley,  son  of 
Francis;  and  Robert  Gardner,  Collector  of  the  Port. 

After  one  or  two  temporary  missionaries,  there  was  sent 
over  by  the  S.  P.  G.,  the  Rev.  James  Honyman,  "a  diligent 
Scotchman,"  who  toiled  with  all  his  heart  for  nearly  a  half- 
century  to  build  up  the  parish  until  his  death,  like  Gold- 
smith's "Village  Preacher,"  who 

"Ne'er  had  changed  or  wished  to  change  his  place." 

The  inscription  on  Mr.  Honyman's  tomb,  hard  by  the 
principal  church  door,  quaintly  describes  him,  as  "with  the 
arm  of   charity  embracing  all  sincere   followers  of   Christ." 

The  time  naturally  arrived,  under  his  mild  sway,  when 
the  predominant  Quakers  and  two  kinds  of  Baptists,  besides 
Presbyterians  and  Independents,  are  recorded  to  have  "all 
agreed  that  the  Church  of  England  was  the  second  best," 
sufficiently  satisfactory  evidence  that  it  was,  in  truth,  the  first 
best. 

The  visit  of  Dean,  afterwards  Bishop,  Berkeley,  at  New- 
port, formed  one  of  the  principal  incidents  in  the  early  history 
of  Trinity  Church.  The  Dean  was  anything  rather  than  a  Cal- 
vinist,  although  a  generous  spirited  recognizer  of  genius 
wherever  he  found  it.  One  summer  Sunday,  in  1729,  when 
he  was  preaching  in  the  church  with  all  the  pews  filled  to  re- 
pletion by  those  eager  to  hear  their  favorite  speaker.  Baptists 
and  friendly  Quakers,  in  their  broad-brimmed  hats,  standing 
patiently  in  the  alleys,  Berkeley,  up  in  the  towering  pulpit, 
suddenly  waxed  warm  and  pronounced,  with  mighty  emphasis 
and  a  merry  gleam  in  his  eye,  a  sentence,  probably  not  to 
be  found  in  his  carefully-written  manuscript,  "Give  the  devil 
his  due.     John  Calvin  was  a  great  man." 

Over  in  Narragansett,  at  about  the  same  period,  a  con- 
siderable group  of  Churchmen  was  to  be  found,  the  two  Rich- 
ard Smiths,  father  and  son,  their  kinsmen,  the  Updikes,  the 
Phillipses,  and  George  Balfour.  It  is  narrated  that,  for  some 
time  previously  to  1675,  the  Rev.  WilHam  Blackstone,  whom 
we  have  seen  migrating  from  Shawmut  Peninsula  to  escape 
the  too  persistent  attentions  of  the  "Lord-Brethren"  in  Bos- 
ton, was  accustomed,  once  a  month,  to  ride  from  his  home 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  Colony,  in  primitive  style,  upon 
the  back  of  a  trained  mouse-colored  bullock,  to  Wickford, 
to  hold,  in  Richard  Smith's  block-house,  what  are  believed  to 
have  been  the  first  prayer  book  services  in  Rhode  Island. 
Adequate  strength  was  developed  to  enable  the  Churchmen 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND         IO9 

of  Narragansett,  in  1707,  to  erect  a  sightly  and  sufficiently 
spacious  church,  still  standing,  although  used  for  worship  only 
occasionally  in  summer.  The  principal  missionary  sent  out 
to  this  nation  by  the  S.  P.  G.  in  the  eighteenth  century  was 
the  Rev.  James  MacSparran,  D.D.,  who  arrived  in  1721  and 
labored  there  for  more  than  a  generation  with  exceptional 
ability,  entire  devotedness  and  eminent  success.  Hardly  any- 
where was  there,  at  that  day,  so  strong  a  country  parish  as 
he  left  when  he  died  in  1757.  It  can  scarcely  be  conceded 
that  his  forceful  and  churchly  influence  has  yet  ceased  to  be 
felt  in  the  region. 

Like  all  other  profoundly  religious  men,  the  Doctor  had 
his  pet  abhorrances,  sounding  rather  odd  in  our  day — the  prac- 
tice of  lay-reading,  the  establishment  of  churches  without 
glebes,  and  the  presence  of  Quakers.*  Sometimes,  with  all 
his  acknowledged  predominance  in  ecclesiastical  rank,  learn- 
ing, benevolence  and  social  status,  even  Dr.  MacSparran  found 
his  match.  There  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Doctor's 
glebe-house,  a  poor,  uneducated  Quaker  preacher,  counted  as 
scarcely  more  than  simple  in  the  world,  but  mighty  in  the 
Scriptures  inside  the  meeting  house,  and  a  powerful  speaker 
on  First  days  and  Fifth  days.  Having  conscientious  scruples 
against  taking  money  for  uttering  the  Lord's  message,  he 
earned  his  daily  bread  by  the  roughest  kinds  of  labor.  One 
day  the  rector  found  the  humble  Friend  at  his  toil,  and  rid- 
ing up  to  him  on  his  fine  horse,  with  just  a  bit  of  a  patron- 
izing air,  exclaimed,  "Well,  James,  how  many  bowls  of  bread 
and  milk  does  it  take  to  build  a  stone  wall?"  "Just  as  many, 
Doctor,"  responded  the  reputed  half-witted  Quaker,  "just 
as  many  as  it  takes  of  hireling  priests  to  make  a  Gospel  min- 
ister." But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  each  of  these  very 
diverse  parties  to  the  passage-at-arms,  recognized  at  its  full 
value  the  sterling  worth  of  the  other. 

The  third  Colonial  church  of  Rhode  Island  is  that  of  St. 
Michael's,  Bristol,  established  in  1719.  The  early  rectors, 
both  sent  by  the  S.  P.  G.,  were  the  Rev.  James  Orem,  who 
remained  but  a  brief  period,  and  the  Rev.  John  Usher,  who 
labored  for  more  than  fifty  years  to  build  up  the  parish  which 
has  long  ranked  as  the  leading  extraurban  church  of  the 
Diocese.    One  of  its  chief  claims  is  as  the  scene  of  the  won- 


*As  the  Quakers  were  the  principal  heretics  Dr.  MacSparran  found 
in  his  sphere  of  operation,  he  made  the  most  of  them  and  chose  them 
to  be  the  particular  objects  of  attack,  declaring  that  when  he  entered 
on  his  mission,  "I  found  the  people  not  a  tabula  rasa,  or  clean  sheet  of 
paper,  upon  which  I  might  make  any  impressions  I  pleased,  but  a 
field  full  of  briars  and  thorns  and  noxious  weeds,  that  were  all  to  be 
eradicated,  before  I  could  implant  in  them  the  simplicity  of  Truth." 


no         THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

derful  labors  of  the  saintly  and  apostolic  Bishop  Griswold  for 
a  quarter  of  a  century. 

The  last  of  the  Colonial  parishes  of  Rhode  Island  is  St. 
John's,  Providence,  known  in  those  Colonial  days  as  King's 
Church,  whose  founders  began  to  build  on  St.  Barnabas's  Day, 
1722.  Many  years  previously  Mr.  Blackstone  had  settled, 
as  already  noted,  a  few  miles  north  of  Providence,  at  what 
is  now  known  as  Lonsdale,  on  the  river  still  called  by  his  name. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  his  arrival  antedated  that  of  Roger 
Williams  by  several  months,  if  not  by  a  year.  A  visitor  of 
the  time  somewhat  dryly  chronicled,  "One  Master  Blackstone 
lives  near  Master  Williams,  but  is  far  from  his  opinions." 
There  is  a  tradition  that  this  excellent  clergyman  held  services 
in  Providence  at  a  very  early  period,  his  ministrations  being 
highly  prized  by  all,  especially  by  the  children,  with  whom 
his  popularity  may  not,  perhaps,  have  been  entirely  uncon- 
nected with  the  fact  that,  being  the  first  cultivator  of  fruit 
trees  in  the  Colony,  he  was  wont  to  come  to  town  with  his 
pockets  well  stored  with  apples,  to  be  distributed  after  the 
benediction, 

St.  John's  Church,  or  King's  Church,  soon  attained  a 
commanding  position,  several  of  its  early  rectors  being  men 
of  unusual  mark,  as  Rev.  Arthur  Browne,  already  referred 
to  in  connection  with  St.  John's,  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire, 
and  Rev.  John  Checkley,  once  the  keeper  of  a  little  book  shop 
in  Boston,  called,  in  old-fashioned  style,  "The  Crown  and 
Blue  Gate,"  and  not  ordained  until  he  had  attained  his  fifty- 
ninth  year. 

The  work  of  St.  John's  in  the  nineteenth  century  was 
built  up  and  consolidated  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  N.  B.  Crocher,  who 
labored  for  its  welfare,  with  all  his  heart  and  strength,  from 
1807  to  1865. 

Upon  the  foundation  of  these  four  Colonial  parishes  has 
been  reared  by  Bishop  Griswold,  Bishop  Henshaw  and  Bishop 
Clark,  the  Diocese  of  Rhode  Island,  so  small  in  territory,  but 
so  strong  in  comparative  numbers  and  in  good  works.  No 
other  Protestant  Christian  body  in  the  State  today  is  grow- 
ing as  rapidly  as  the  Church  or  seems  to  be  oflfering  ministra- 
tions as  welcome  to  the  population. 

In  the  early  summer  of  the  year  1900,  the  bicentenary 
of  the  foundation  of  the  S.  P.  G.  began  to  be  celebrated  in 
London.  It  chanced  that  the  speaker  was  present  on  the  oc- 
casion and  "his  lot  was  to  burn  incense,"  in  company  with  a 
countless  host  of  other  Anglican  Churchmen,  in  gratitude  for 
all  that  the  venerable  society  has  been  permitted  to  accomplish. 
There  were  a  stately  service  of  thanksgiving  in  St.  VPaul's 
Cathedral  and  services  very  numerous  in  other  London 
churches. 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND         III 

But  the  greatest  assembly  of  all  was  held  in  the  historic 
Exeter  Hall,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  nineteenth  day  of  June. 

Archbishop  Temple,  of  Canterbury,  was  in  the  president's 
chair,  supported  by  more  than  a  score  of  other  Bishops.  The 
Marquis  of  Salisbury,  Prime  Minister  of  England,  was  pres- 
ent, and  made  a  notable  speech. 

There  were  there,  too,  the  venerable  Bishop  Doane,  of 
Albany,  who  presented  an  address  from  the  American  Church, 
and  Bishop  Dudley,  of  Kentucky,  who  also  spoke  on  the  occa- 
sion. Prebendary  Tucker,  then  secretary  of  the  S.  P.  G., 
read  a  cablegram  of  congratulation  from  the  rector  and  church 
wardens  of  St.  Michael's  Church,  Bristol,  R.  I.,  one  of  the 
earliest  settlements  of  the  Society.  A  most  inspiring  feature 
of  the  meeting  was  the  singing  of  the  national  anthem  by  the 
children  of  the  Chapel  Royal,  whose  quaint  uniforms,  per- 
haps unchanged  since  the  formation  of  the  Society,  two  hun- 
dred years  before,  made  a  bright  patch  of  color  upon  the 
otherwise  somewhat  sombre  black-coated  map  on  the  platform. 

Nor  did  a  New  England  Churchman  need  to  feel  him- 
self a  stranger  in  this  scene,  as  if  the  venerable  Society  were 
none  of  his.  Rather  might  he  have  rightly  realized  that  it 
was  peculiarly  his  own.  The  primary  purpose  of  the  organi- 
zation in  its  earlier  inchoate  form  was  the  promotion  of 
Christianity  in  the  Northern  Colonies  of  America. 

As  early  as  July,  1649,  an  ordinance  was  passed  erecting 
a  corporation  to  be  called  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel  in  New  England,  and,  again,  in  the  fourth  year 
of  the  reign  of  Charles  II,  the  King  was  graciously  pleased 
to  revive  and  renew  the  work  by  creating,  through  an  express 
charter,  "The  Society  (or  Company)  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel  in  New  England  and  parts  adjacent,  in  America," 
two  score  years  before  the  corporation  developed  into  its 
permanent  more  general  form. 

Before  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  the  Society 
had  sent  and  supported  eighty-four  missionaries  at  eighty  cen- 
tral stations  in,  as  it  records,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
Rhode  Island,  New  Hampshire,  Maine,  Vermont  and  Narra- 
gansett.  With  that  record  in  our  minds,  do  we  need  to  look 
far  afield  for  the  agencies  which  founded  the  Church  in  New 
England?  Without  the  fostering  care  of  the  Society  the 
Church,  as  it  is  in  New  England,  and  almost,  from  a  human 
point  of  view,  the  Church  at  all,  would  never  have  existed. 
Right  heartily  then  do  we  accord  to  the  ancient  association  its 
long-established  title,  "The  Venerable  Society." 


